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LIBRARY 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

SANTA  BARBARA 


PRESENTED  BY 

MRS. 
ERIC   SCHMIDT 


VIEW 


OF 


THE    STATE    OF    EUROPE 


DURINO 


THE  MIDDLE  AGES. 


Bv  HENRY  HALLAM,   LL.D.,  r.R.A.S., 

FOKEiaX  ASSOCUTE  OF  TUE  IKSTITUTB  OF  FRANCE. 


IN  THREE  VOLUJIES. 
VOLUME  I. 


NEW     YORK: 
SHELDON    AND     COMPANY. 

H  O  S  TON: 
WILLIAM!    V  E  A  Z  I  E . 

1862. 


BiTERSiDE,  Cambridge: 

STEREOTYPED    AND    PRINTED    BY 
H.    0.    HOUGHTON   AND   COMPANT. 


Ill 

HIS 


PREFACE 
TO  THE   FIRST   EDITION. 


It  is  the  object  of  the  present  work  to  exhibit,  in  a  series 
of  his^torical  dissertations,  a  comprehensive  survey  of  the 
chief  circumstances  that  can  interest  a  philosophical  inquirer 
during  the  period  usually  denominated  the  Mitldle  Ages. 
Such  an  undertaking  must  necessarily  fall  under  the  class  of 
historical  abridgments :  yet  there  will  perhaps  be  found 
enough  to  distinguish  it  from  such  as  have  already  appeared. 
Many  considei-able  portions  of  time,  especially  before  the 
twelfth  century,  may  justly  be  deemed  so  barren  of  events 
■worthy  of  remembrance,  that  a  single  sentence  or  paragraph 
is  often  sufficient  to  give  the  character  of  entire  generations, 
and  of  long  dynasties  of  obscure  kings. 

Non  ragioniam  di  lor,  ma  guarda  e  passa. 

And  even  in  the  more  pleasing  and  instructive  parts  of  this 
middle  period  it  has  been  my  object  to  avoid  the  dry  compo- 
sition of  annals,  and  aiming,  with  what  spirit  and  freedom  I 
could,  at  a  just  outline  rather  than  a  miniature,  to  suppress  all 
events  that  did  not  appear  essentially  concatenated  with 
others,  or  illustrative  of  important  conclusions.  But  as  the 
mo<les  of  government  and  constitutional  laws  which  prevailed 
in  various  countries  of  Europe,  and  especially  in  England, 
seemed  to  have  been  less  fully  dwelt  upon  in  former  works 
of  this  description  than  military  or  civil  transactions,  while 
they  were  deserving  of  f;ir  more  attention,  I  have  taken  pains 
to  give  a  true  rejjresentation  of  them,  and  in  every  instance 
to  jKjint  out  tlie  sourres  from  wliicli  the  reader  may  derive 
mon;  complete  and  original  inlorniation. 

Nothing  can  be  farther  from  my  wishes  than  that  the  fol- 
lowing j)ages  should  be  ju<lge(l  aecording  to  the  critical  laws 
of  iiislorieal  composition.  Tried  in  such  a  balance  they 
would  Ix;  I'lninentlv  defective.  The  limited  extent  of  this 
work,  compared  with  the  subjects  it  embraces,  as  well  as  its 


iv  PKEFACE  TO  THE  FIRST  EDITION. 

partaking  more  of  the  character  of  pohtical  dissertation  than 
of  narrative,  must  necessarily  preclude  that  circumstantial 
delineation  of  events  and  of  characters  upon  which  the  beauty 
as  well  as  usefulness  of  a  regular  history  so  mainly  depends. 
Nor  can  I  venture  to  assert  that  it  will  be  found  altogether 
perspicuous  to  those  who  are  destitute  of  any  previous  ac- 
quaintance with  the  period  to  which  it  relates  ;  though  I  have 
only  presupposed,  strictly  speaking,  a  knowledge  of  the  com- 
mon facts  of  Enghsh  history,  and  have  endeavored  to  avoid, 
in  treating  of  other  countries,  those  allusive  references  which 
imply  more  information  m  the  reader  than  the  author  designs 
to  communicate.  But  the  arrangement  which  I  have  adopted 
has  sometimes  rendered  it  necessaiy  to  anticipate  both  names 
and  facts  which  are  to  find  a  more  definite  place  in  a  subse- 
quent part  of  the  work. 

This  arrangement  is  probably  different  from  that  of  any 
former  historical  retrospect.  Every  chapter  of  the  following 
volumes  completes  its  particular  subject,  and  may  be  con- 
sidered in  some  degree  as  independent*  of  the  rest.  The 
order  consequently  in  which  they  are  read  will  not  be  very 
material,  though  of  course  I  should  rather  prefer  that  in  which 
they  are  at  present  disposed.  A  solicitude  to  avoid  continual 
transitions,  and  to  give  free  scope  to  the  natural  association 
of  connected  facts,  has  dictated  this  arrangement,  to  which  I 
confess  myself  partial.  And  I  have  found  its  inconveniences 
so  trifling  in  composition,  that  I  cannot  believe  they  will  oc- 
casion much  trouble  to  the  reader. 

The  first  chapter  comprises  the  history  of  France  from  the 
invasion  of  Clovis  to  the  expedition,  exclusively,  of  Charles 
VIII.  against  Naples.  It  is  not  possible  to  fix  accurate 
limits  to  the  Middle  Ages ;  but  though  the  ten  centuries  from 
the  fifth  to  the  fifteenth  seem,  in  a  general  point  of  view,  to 
constitute  that  period,  a  less  arbitrary  division  was  necessary 
to  render  the  commencement  and  conclusion  of  an  historical 
narrative  satisfactory.  The  continuous  chain  of  transactions 
on  the  stage  of  human  society  is  ill  divided  by  mere  lines  of 
chronological  demarcation.  But  as  the  subversion  of  the 
western  empire  is  manifestly  the  natural  termination  of 
ancient  history,  so  the  establishment  of  the  Franks  in  Gaul 
appears  the  most  convenient  epoch  for  the  commencement  of 
a  new  period.  Less  difficulty  occurred  in  finding  the  other 
limit.     The  invasion  of  Naples  by  Charles  VIII.  was  the 


PREFACE  TO  THE  FIRST  EDITIOX.  v 

event  that  first  engaged  the  princijial  states  of  Europe  in  re- 
lations of  aUiance  or  hostility  which  may  be  dcduci'd  to  the 
present  day,  and  is  the  point  at  which  every  man  who  traces 
backwards  its  political  history  will  be  obliged  to  pause.  It 
furnishes  a  determinate  epoch  in  the  annals  of  Italy  and 
France,  and  nearly  coincides  with  events  which  naturally 
terminate  tlie  history  of  the  Middle  Ages  in  other  countries. 

The  feudal  system  is  treated  in  the  second  cha])ter,  which 
I  have  subjoined  to  the  history  of  France,  with  which  it  has 
a  near  connection.  Inquiries  into  the  antiquities  of  that  juris- 
prudence occupied  more  attention  in  the  last  age  than  the 
present,  and  their  dryness  may  prove  repul-^ive  to  many 
readers.  But  there  is  no  royal  road  to  the  knowledge  of 
law  ;  nor  can  any  man  render  an  obscure  and  intricate  disquisi- 
tion either  perspicuous  or  entertaining.  That  the  feudal  sys- 
tem is  an  important  branch  of  historical  knowledge  will  not 
be  disputed,  when  we  consider  not  only  its  intluence  upon  our 
own  constitution,  but  that  one  of  the  parties  which  at  present 
divide  a  neighboring  kingdom  professes  to  appeal  to  the  origi- 
nal principles  of  its  monarchy,  as  they  subsisted  before  the 
subversion  of  that  polity. 

The  four  succeeding  chapters  contain  a  sketch,  more  or 
less  rapid  and  general,  of  the  histories  of  Italy,  of  Spain,  of 
Germany,  and  of  the  Greek  and  Saracenic  empires.  In  the 
seventh  I  have  endeavored  to  develop  the  progress  of  ecclesi- 
astical power,  a  subject  eminently  distingui>hiiig  the  Middle 
Ages,  and  of  which  a  concise  and  impartial  delineation  has 
long  been  desirable. 

Tlie  English  constitution  furnishes  materials  for  the  eighth 
chapter.  I  cannot  hope  to  have  done  suthcient  justice  to  this 
theme,  which  has  cost  me  considerable  labor ;  Init  it  is  worthy 
of  remark,  that  since  the  treatise  of  Nathaniel  Bacon,  itself 
open  to  much  exception,  there  has  l)een  no  historical  develop- 
ment of  our  constitution,  founded  upon  extensive  researches, 
or  calculated  to  give  a  just  notion  of  its  character.  For  those 
parts  of  Henry's  history  which  profess  to  trace  the  progress 
of  government  are  still  more  jejune  than  tlie  rest  of  his 
volumes ;  and  the  work  of  Professor  Millar,  of  Glasgow, 
however  plea-^ing  from  its  liberal  spirit,  dis[)lays  a  fault  too 
common  among  the  philosophers  of  his  eountrv,  that  of  tli<'o- 
riziiig  U]ion  an  impi-rfeet  induction,  and  very  ort<n  upon  a  total 
misapj)rehension  of  particular  facts. 


vi  PREFACE  TO  THE  FIRST  EDITION. 

The  ninth  and  last  chapter  relates  to  the  general  state  of 
society  in  Europe  during  the  Middle  Ages,  and  comprehends 
the  history  of  commerce,  of  manners,  and  of  literature. 
None,  however,  of  these  are  treated  in  detail,  and  the  whole 
chapter  is  chiefly  designed  as  supplemental  to  the  rest,  in 
order  to  vary  the  relations  under  which  events  may  be 
viewed,  and  to  give  a  more  adequate  sense  of  the  spirit  and 
character  of  the  JMiddle  Ages. 

In  the  execution  of  a  plan  far  more  comprehensive  than 
what  with  a  due  consideration  either  of  my  abilities  or  oppor- 
tunities I  ought  to  have  undertaken,  it  would  be  strangely 
presumptuous  to  hope  that  I  can  have  rendered  myself  in- 
vulnerable to  criticism.  Even  if  flagrant  erroi's  should  not 
be  frequently  detected,  yet  I  am  aware  that  a  desire  of  con- 
ciseness has  prevented  the  sense  of  some  passages  from  ap- 
pearing sufficiently  distinct ;  and  though  I  cannot  hold  myself 
generally  responsible  for  omissions,  in  a  work  which  could 
only  be  brought  within  a  reasonable  compass  by  the  severe 
retrenchment  of  superfluous  matter,  it  is  highly  probable  that 
defective  information,  forgetfulness,  or  too  great  a  regard  for 
brevity,  have  caused  me  to  pass  over  many  things  which 
would  have  materially  illustrated  the  various  subjects  of  these 
inquiries. 

I  dare  not,  therefore,  appeal  with  confidence  to  the  tri- 
bunal of  those  superior  judges  who,  having  bestowed  a  more 
undivided  attention  on  the  particular  objects  that  have 
interested  them,  may  justly  deem  such  general  sketches  im- 
perfect and  superficial ;  but  my  labors  will  not  have  proved 
fruitless  if  they  shall  conduce  to  stimulate  the  reflection,  to 
guide  the  researches,  to  correct  the  prejudices,  or  to  animate 
the  hberal  and  virtuous  sentiments  of  inquisitive  youth : 

Ml  satis  ampla 
Merces,  et  mihi  grande  decus,  sim  ignotus  in  tevum 
Turn  licet,  externo  peuitusque  inglorius  orbi. 

Aj)ril,  1818. 


PREFACE 

TO  A  VOLUME  PUBLISHED  IN  184S. 

ENTITLED 

SUPPLEMENTAL  NOTES 

TO   THE 

A^LEW  OF  THE  STATE  OF  EUROPE  DURING 
THE  MIDDLE  AGES. 


TnintY  years  have  elapsed  since  the  publication  of  the 
Work  to  which  the  ibllowing  notes  relate,  and  almost  forty 
since  the  first  chapter  and  part  of  the  second  were  written.  The 
occupations  of  tliat  time  rendered  it  impossilde  for  me  to  bestow 
such  undivided  attention  as  so  laborious  and  difficult  an  un- 
dertaking demanded ;  and  at  the  outset  I  had  very  little  inten- 
tion of  prosecuting  my  researches,  even  to  that  degree  of 
exactness  which  a  gi-owing  interest  in  the  ascertainment  of 
precise  truth,  and  a  sense  of  its  dilliculty,  led  me  afterwards 
in  some  parts  to  seek,  though  nowhere  equal  to  what  with  a 
fuller  command  of  time  I  should  have  desired  to  attain.  A 
mea.-ure  of  jjublic  approbation  accorded  to  me  lar  beyond  my 
hopes  has  not  blinded  my  discernment  to  the  deficiencies  of 
my  own  |)crformance ;  and  as  successive  editions  have  been 
called  for,  I  have  continually  felt  that  there  was  more  to  cor- 
rect or  to  elucidate  than  tlie  insertion  of  a  few  foot-notes 
would  supply,  while  I  was  always  reluctant  to  make  such  al- 
teration- as  would  leave  to  tin-  piirclias)  rs  of  former  eilitions 
a  rijrht  to  conijilaiu.  From  an  autlior  whose  science  is  con- 
tinually j)rogres8ive,  such  as  chemistry  or  geology,  this  is  un- 
avoidal)ly  r'X[)ecfed  ;  but  I  thought  the  case  not  quite  the  same 
with  a  mt,'dia;val  historian. 

In  the  mean  time,  however,  the  long  period  of  the  Middle 


viii  PREFACE  TO   SUPPLEMENTAL  NOTES. 

Ages  had  been  investigated  by  many  of  my  distinguished  con- 
temporaries with  signal  success,  and  I  have  been  anxious  to 
bring  my  own  volumes  nearer  to  the  boundaries  of  the  historic 
domain,  as  it  has  been  enlarged  Avithin  our  own  age.  My  ob- 
ject has  been,  accordingly,  to  reconsider  those  portions  of  the 
work  which  relate  to  subjects  discussed  by  eminent  writers 
since  its  pubhcation,  to  illustrate  and  enlarge  some  passages 
which  had  been  imperfectly  or  obscurely  treated,  and  to  ac- 
knowledge with  freedom  my  own  errors.  It  appeared  most 
convenient  to  adopt  a  form  of  publication  by  which  the  pos- 
sessors of  any  edition  may  have  the  advantage  of  these  Sup- 
plemental Notes,  which  will  not  much  affect  the  value  of 
their  copy. 

The  first  two  Chapters,  on  the  History  of  France  and  on 
the  Feudal  System,  have  been  found  to  require  a  good  deal 
of  improvement.  As  a  history,  indeed,  of  the  briefest  kind, 
the  first  pages  are  insufficient  for  those  who  have  little  pre- 
vious knowledge ;  and  this  I  have,  of  course,  not  been  able 
well  to  cure.  The  second  Chapter  embraces  subjects  which 
have  peculiarly  drawn  the  attention  of  Continental  writers  for 
the  last  thirty  years.  The  whole  history  of  France,  civil, 
constitutional,  and  social,  has  been  more  philosophically  exam- 
ined, and  yet  with  a  more  copious  erudition,  by  which  philoso- 
phy must  always  be  guided,  than  in  any  foi-mer  age.  Two 
writers  of  high  name  have  given  the  world  a  regular  history 
of  that  country  —  one  for  modern  as  well  as  mediaeval  times, 
the  other  for  these  alone.  The  great  laistorian  of  the  Italian 
republics,  my  guide  and  companion  in  that  portion  of  the 
History  of  the  Middle  Ages,  pubhshed  in  1821  the  first  vol- 
umes of  his  Histoi-y  of  the  French ;  it  is  well  known  that  this 
labor  of  twenty  years  was  very  nearly  terminated  when  he 
was  removed  from  the  world.  The  two  histories  of  Sismondi 
will,  in  all  likelihood,  never  be  superseded ;  if  in  the  latter 
we  sometimes  miss,  and  yet  we  do  not  always  miss,  the  glow- 
ing and  vivid  pencil,  guided  by  the  ardor  of  youth  and  the 
distinct  remembrance  of  scenery,  we  find  no  inferiority  in 
justness  of  thought,  in  copiousness  of  narration,  and  espe- 
cially in  love  of  virtue  and  indignation  at  wrong.  It  seems, 
indeed,  as  if  the  progress  of  years  had  heightened  the  stern 
sentiments  of  republicanism  Avith  which  he  set  out,  and  to 
which  tlie  wliole  course  of  his  later  work  must  have  afforded 
no  gratification,  except  that  of  scorn  and  severity.     Measur- 


PREFACE  TO   SLTPLEMENTAL  NOTES.  ix 

ing  not  only  their  actions  but  characters  by  a  rigid  standard, 
lie  sometimes  demands  from  the  men  of  past  times  more  than 
human  frailty  and  ignorance  could  have  given ;  and  his  histo- 
ry would  leave  but  a  painful  impression  from  the  gloominess 
of  the  picture,  were  not  this  constantly  relieved  by  the  {)eenl- 
iar  softness  and  easy  grace  of  his  style.  It  cannot  be  said 
that  Sismondi  is  very  diUgent  in  probing  obscurities,  or  in 
weighing  evidence  ;  his  general  views,  with  which  most  of  his 
chapters  begin,  are  luminous  and  valuable  to  the  ordinary 
reader,  but  sometimes  sketched  too  loosely  for  the  critical  in- 
vestigator of  history. 

Less  full  than  Sismondi  in  the  general  details,  but  seizing 
particular  events  or  epochs  Avitli  greater  minuteness  and  ac- 
curacy —  not  emulating  his  full  and  flowing  periods,  but  in  a 
style  concise,  rapid,  and  emphatic,  sparkling  with  new  and 
brilliant  analogies  —  picturesque  in  descrii)tion,  spirited  in 
sentiment,  a  poet  in  all  but  his  tidelity  to  truth  —  M.  Michelet 
has  placed  his  own  History  of  France  by  the  side  of  that  of 
Sismondi.  His  quotations  are  more  numerous,  for  Sismondi 
commonly  gives  only  references,  and  when  interwoven  with 
the  text,  as  they  often  are,  though  not  quite  according  to  the 
strict  laws  of  composition,  not  only  bear  with  them  the  proof 
which  an  historical  assertion  may  fail  to  command,  but  exhibit 
a  more  vivid  picture. 

In  praising  31.  ]SIichelet  we  are  not  to  forget  his  defects. 
His  pencil,  always  spirited,  does  not  always  fill  the  canvas. 
The  consecutive  history  of  France  will  not  be  so  well  leai'ned 
from  his  pages  as  from  those  of  Sismondi ;  and  we  should 
protest  against  his  peculiar  bitterness  towards  England,  Avere 
it  not  ridiculous  in  itself  by  its  frequency  and  exaggeration. 

I  turn  with  more  respect  to  a  great  name  in  historical  lit- 
erature, and  which  is  only  less  great  in  that  sense  than  it 
miglit  have  licen,  because  it  belongs  also  to  the  groundwork 
of  all  future  iiistory  —  the  whole  series  of  events  wiiich  have 
Ijeen  developed  on  the  scene  of  Europe  for  twenty  years  now 
pa-t.  No  •■iivy  of  faction,  no  caprice  of  fortune,  can  tear 
from  .M.  (iui/ot  the  tropliy  which  time  has  beslow(;d,  that  lie 
for  nearly  eight  years,  past  and  irrevocable,  held  in  his  fiim 
gra.sp  u  power  so  fleeting  before,  and  fell  only  with  the  mon- 
urchy  which  he  had  sustained,  m  the  convulsive  throes  ot  hi-, 
country. 


X        PREFACE  TO  SUPPLEMENTAL  NOTES. 

"Cras  vel  atra 
Nube  polum  Pater  occupato, 
Vel  sole  puro :  noii  tamen  irritum, 
Quodcimque  retro  est,  efHciet." 

It  has  remained  for  my  distinguished  friend  to  manifest  that 
hio-h  attribute  of  a  CTCat  man's  mind  —  a  constant  and  unsub- 
dued  spirit  in  adversity,  and  to  turn  once  more  to  those  tran- 
quil pursuits  of  earUer  days  which  bestow  a  more  unmingled 
enjoyment  and  a  more  unenvied  glory  than  the  favor  of  kings 
or  the  applause  of  senates. 

The  Essais  sur  I'Histoire  de  France,  by  M.  Guizot,  ap- 
peared in  1820 ;  the  Collection  de  Memoires  relatives  a 
I'Histoire  de  France  (a  translation  generally  from  the  Latin, 
under  his  superintendence  and  with  notes  by  him),  if  I  mis- 
take not,  in  1825  ;  the  Lectures  on  the  civilization  of  Europe, 
and  on  that  of  France,  are  of  different  dates,  some  of  the 
latter  in  1829,  These  form,  by  the  confession  of  all,  a 
sort  of  epoch  in  medifeval  history  by  their  philosophical 
acuteness,  the  judicious  choice  of  their  subjects,  and  the  gen- 
eral solidity  and  truth  of  the  views  which  they  present. 

I  am  almost  unwilling  to  mention  several  other  eminent 
names,  lest  it  should  seem  invidious  to  omit  any.  It  wiU  suf- 
ficiently appear  by  these  Notes  to  whom  I  have  been  most  in- 
debted. Yet  the  writings  of  Thierry,  Fauriel,  Raynouard, 
and  not  less  valuable,  though  in  time,  almost  the  latest, 
Lehuerou,  ought  not  to  be  passed  in  silence.  I  shall  not 
attempt  to  characterize  these  eminent  men ;  but  the  gratitude 
of  every  inquirer  into  the  mediaeval  history  of  France  is  es- 
pecially due  to  the  Ministry  of  Public  Instruction  under  the 
late  government  for  the  numerous  volumes  of  Documens  In- 
6dits,  illustrating  that  history,  which  have  appeared  under  its 
superintendence,  and  at  the  public  expense,  within  the  last 
twelve  years.  It  is  difficult  not  to  feel,  at  the  present  junc- 
ture, the  greatest  apprehension  that  this  valuable  publication 
will  at  least  be  suspended. 

Several  Chapters  which  follow  the  second  in  my  volumes 
have  furnished  no  great  store  of  additions ;  but  that  which  re- 
lates to  the  EngUsh  Constitution  has  appeared  to  require 
more  illustration.  Many  subjects  of  no  trifling  importance 
in  the  history  of  our  ancient  institutions  had  drawn  the  atten- 
tion of  men  very  conversant  with  its  best  sources ;  and  it  was 
naturally  my  desire  to  impart  in  some  measure  the  substance 


PREFACE  TO   SUPPLEMENTAL  NOTES.  xi 

of  their  researches  to  my  readers.  In  not  many  instances 
have  I  seen  ground  for  materially  altering  my  own  views ; 
and  I  have  not  of  course  her-itated  to  ditll-r  from  tliuse  whom 
I  often  quote  with  much  respect.  The  publications  of  the  Re- 
cord Connnission  —  the  celebrated  Report  of  the  Lords'  Com- 
mittee on  the  Dignity  of  a  Peer  —  the  work  of  my  learned 
and  gifted  friend  Sir  Francis  Palgrave,  On  the  Rise  and 
Progress  of  the  English  Commonwealth,  replete  with  omnifa- 
rious reading  and  learless  spirit,  though  not  always  command- 
ing the  assent  of  more  sceptical  tempers  —  the  approved  and 
valuable  contributions  to  constitutional  learning  by  Allen, 
Kemble,  Spence,  Starkie,  Nicolas,  Wright,  and  many  others 
—  are  full  of  important  facts  and  enlightened  theories.  Yet  I 
fear  that  I  shall  be  found  to  have  overlooked  much,  especially 
in  that  periodical  literature  which  is  too  apt  to  escape  our  ob- 
servation or  our  memory ;  and  can  only  hope  that  these  Notes, 
imperfect  as  they  must  be,  will  serve  to  extend  the  knowledge 
of  my  readers  and  guide  them  to  the  sources  of  historic 
truth.  They  claim  only  to  be  supplemental,  and  can  be  of 
no  service  to  those  who  do  not  already  possess  the  History  of 
the  Middle  Ages. 

The  paging  of  the  editions  of  1826  and  1841,  one  in  three 
volumes,  the  other  in  two,  has  been  marked  for  each  Note, 
which  will  prevent  I  hope,  all  inconvenience  in  reference. 

June,  1848. 


ADVERTISEMENT   TO   THE   PRESENT  EDITION. 

The  Supplemental  Notes  have  been  incorporated  with  the 
original  work,  partly  at  the  foot  of  the  pages,  partly  at  the 
close  of  each  chapter. 


CONTENTS 


OF 


THE    FIRST   VOLUME. 


CHAPTER  I. 


THE  HISTORY  OP   FEANCE  FROM   ITS   CONQUEST   BY   CLOVIS   TO  THE 
INVASION  OF   NAPLES   BY   CHARLES   VIII. 

Part  I. 

Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire  —  Invasion  of  Clevis  —  First  Race  of  French 
Kings  —  Accession  of  Pepin  —  State  of  Italy — Charlemagne  —  His  Reign 
and  Character  —  Louis  the  Debonair  —  His  Successors  —  Calamitous 
State  of  the  Empire  in  the  Ninth  and  Tenth  Centuries  —  Accession  of 
Hugh  Capet  —  His  first  Successors  —  Louis  VII.  —  Philip  Augustus  — 
Conquest  of  Normandy  —  War  in  Languedoc  —  Louis  IX.  —  His  Charac- 
ter—  Digression  upon  the  Crusades  —  Philip  III.  —  Philip  FV".  —  Ag- 
grandizement of  French  Monarchy  under  his  Reign  —  Reigns  of  his  Chil- 
dren —  Question  of  Salic  Law —  Claim  of  Edward  III Page  15 

Part  II. 

War  of  Edward  IH.  in  France  —  Causes  of  his  Success  —  Civil  Disturb- 
ances of  France  —  Peace  of  Bretigni  —  Its  Interpretation  considered  — 
Charles  V.  —  Renewal  of  the  War  —  Charles  VI.  —  His  Minority  and 
Insanity  —  Civil  Dissensions  of  the  Parties  of  Orleans  and  Burgundy  — 
Assassination  of  both  these  Princes  —  Intrigues  of  their  Parties  with 
England  under  Henry  IV.  —  Henry  V.  invades  France  —  Treaty  of 
Troyes — State  of  France  in  the  first  Years  of  Charles  VII.  —  Progress 
and  subsequent  Decline  of  the  English  Arms  —  their  Expulsion  from 
France — Change  in  the  Political  Constitution  —  Louis  XI.  —  His  Char- 
acter—  Leagues  formed  against  him  —  Charles  Duke  of  Burgundy  —  His 
Prosperity  and  Fall  —  Louis  obtains  Possession  of  Burgundy  —  His  Death 
—  Charles  VIII.  —  Acquisition  of  Britany 61 

Notes  to  Chapter  1 109 


CONTEXTS  OF  THE  FIRST  VOLUME.  xiii 

CHAPTER  n. 

OF  THE  FEUDAL  SYSTEM,   ESPECIALLY   IX    FRANCE. 

Part  I. 

State  of  ancient  Germany  —  Effects  of  the  Conquest  of  Gaul  bj'  the  Franks 

—  Tenures  of  Land  —  Distinction  of  Laws  —  Constitution  of  the  ancient 
Frank  Monarchy  —  Gradual  Establishment  of  Feudal  Tenures  —  Prin- 
ciples of  a  Feudal  Relation  —  Ceremonies  of  Homage  and  Investiture  — 
Military  Ser^•ice — Feudal  Incidents  of  Relief,  Aid,  "Wardship,  &c. — 
Ditlereut  Species  of  Fiefs  —  Feudal  Law-books Page  148 

Part  II. 

Analysis  of  the  Feudal  System — Its  local  Extent  —  View  of  the  different 
Orders  of  Society  during  the  Feudal  Ages  —  Nobility — Their  Ranks 
and  Privileges  —  Clergy  —  Freemen  —  Serfs  or  Villeins  —  Comparative 
State  of  France  and  Germany  —  Privileges  enjoyed  by  the  French  Vas- 
sals—  Right  of  coining  Money  —  and  of  Private  War  —  Immunity  from 
Taxation  —  Historical  View  of  the  Royal  Revenue  in  France  —  Methods 
adopted  to  augment  it  b^v  Depreciation  of  the  Coin,  &c.  —  Legislative 
Power — Its  State  under  the  Merovingian  Kings,  and  Charlemagne  —  His 
Councils  —  Suspension  of  any  general  Legislative  Authority  during  the 
Prevalence  of  Feudal  Principles — Tiie  King's  Council  —  Means  adopted 
to  supply  the  Want  of  a  National  Assembly  —  Gradual  Progress  of  the 
King's  Legislative  Power — Philip  VI.  assembles  the  States-General  — 
Their  Powers  limited  to  Taxation  —  States  under  the  Sons  of  Philip  IV. 

—  States  of  1355  and  135G — They  nearly  effect  an  entire  Revolution  — 
The  Crown  recovers  its  Vigor — States  of  1380,  under  Charles  VI. — 
Subsequent  Assemblies  under  Charles  VI.  and  Charles  VII.  —  The  Crown 
becomes  more  and  more  absolute  —  Louis  XI.  —  States  of  Tours  in  1484 

—  Historical  View  of  .lurisdiction  in  France  —  Its  earliest  Stage  under 
the  tirst  Race  of  Kings,  and  Charlemagne  —  Territorial  Jurisdiction  — 
Feudal  Courts  of  Justice  —  Trial  by  Combat — Code  of  St.  Louis  —  The 
Territorial  .furisdictions  give  way  —  Progress  of  the  Judicial  Power  of 
the  Criiwn  —  i'urliameut  of  Paris  — Peers  of  France  —  Increased  Author- 
ity of  the  Parliament  —  Registration  of  Edicts  —  Causes  of  the  Decline 
of  the  Feudal  System  —  Acquisitions  of  Domain  by  the  Crown  —  Char- 
ters of  Incorporation  granted  to  Towns  —  Their  previous  Condition  — 
First  Charters  in  the  Twditli  Century — Privileges  contained  in  them  — 
Military  .Ser\'ice  of  Feudal  Tenants  commuted  for  Monej'  —  Hircl  Troops 

—  Change  in  the  Military  System  of  Europe  —  General  View  of  the  .Vd- 
vantages  and  Disadvantages  attending  the  Feudal  System 186 

NoTKS  To  ClIAITKIt  II 206 


xiv  CONTENTS  OF  THE  FIRST  VOLUME. 


CHAPTER  in. 

THE  HISTORY  OF  ITALY,  FROM   THE  EXTINCTION  OF  THE  CARLOVINGIAN 
EMPERORS   TO  THE   INVASION  OF   NAPLES   BY   CHARLES   VIII. 

Part  I. 

State  of  Italy  after  the  Death  of  Charles  the  Fat  —  Coronation  of  Otho  the 
Great  —  State  of  Rome  —  Conrad  II.  —  Union  of  the  Kingdom  of  Italy 
with  the  Empire  —  Establishment  of  the  Normans  in  Naples  and  Sicily 

—  Roger  Guiscard  —  Rise  of  the  Lombard  Cities  —  They  gradually  be- 
come more  independent  of  the  Empire  —  Their  internal  Wars  —  Frederic 
Barbarossa  —  Destruction  of  Milan  —  Lombard  League  —  Battle  of  Leg- 
nano  —  Peace  of  Constance  —  Temporal  Principality  of  the  Popes  — 
Guelf  and  Ghibelin  Factions  —  Otho  IV.  —  Frederic  II.  —  Arrangement 
of  the  Italian  Republics  —  Second  Lombard  "War  —  Extinction  of  the 
House  of  Suabia  —  Causes  of  the  Success  of  Lombard  Republics  —  Their 
Prosperity  —  and  Forms  of  Government — Contentions  between  the  No- 
bility and  People  —  Civil  "Wars  —  Story  of  Giovanni  di  Vicenza.  Page  343 

Part  II. 

State  of  Italy  after  the  Extinction  of  the  House  of  Suabia  —  Conquest  of 
Naples  by  Charles  of  Anjou —  The  Lombard  Republics  become  severally 
subject  to  Prmces  or  Usurpers  —  The  Visconti  of  Milan  —  Their  Aggran- 
dizement— Decline  of  the  Imperial  Authority  over  Italy  —  Internal  State 
of  Rome  —  Rienzi  —  Florence  —  her  Forms  of  Government  historically 
traced  to  the  end  of  the  Fourteenth  Century  —  Conquest  of  Pisa  —  Pisa 

—  Its  Commerce,  Naval  Wars  with  Genoa,  and  Decay — Genoa  —  her 
Contentions  with  Venice  —  War  of  Chioggia  —  Government  of  Genoa  — 
Venice  —  her  Origin  and  Prosperity  —  Venetian  Government  —  its  Vices 

—  Territorial  Conquests  of  Venice  —  Military  System  of  Italy  —  Com- 
panies of  Adventure  —  1,  foreign ;  Guarnieri,  Hawkwood  —  and  2,  native ; 
Braccio,  Sforza  —  Improvements  in  Military  Service  —  Arms,  offensive 
and  defensive  —  Invention  of  Gunpowder  —  Naples  —  First  Line  of  Anjou 

—  Joanna  I. — Ladislaus  —  Joanna  II.  —  Francis  Sforza  becomes  Duke 
of  Milan  —  Alfonso  King  of  Naples  —  State  of  Italy  during  the  Fifteenth 
Century  —  Florence  —  Rise  of  the  Medici,  and  Ruin  of  their  Adversaries 
— Pretensions  of  Charles  VIII.  to  Naples 390 


VIEW 


OF 


THE    STATE    OF    EUROPE 

DURING   THE   MIDDLE   AGES. 


CHAPTER   I. 


THE   HISTORY  OF  FRANCE,  FROM  ITS  CONQUEST  BY  CLOVIS 
TO    THE    INVASION    OF   NAPLES    BY    CHARLES  VIII. 


PART  I. 


Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire  —  Invasion  of  Clovis  — First  Race  of  French  Kings  — 
AcceMon  of  Pepin  —  State  of  Italy  —  Charlemagne  —  His  Roign  and  Character 
—  Louis  the  Debunair  —  His  Successors  —  Calamitous  State  of  the  Empire  iu  the 
ninth  an<l  tenth  Centuries  —  Accession  of  Hugh  Capet  —  His  first  Successors  — 
Louis  VII.  —  Philip  Augustus  —  Conquest  of  Normandy — War  in  Languedoc  — 
Louis  IX.  —  His  Cliiractcr  —  Digression  upon  the  Crusades  —  Philip  IIlT —  Philip 
IV.  —  Airgranilia-mt-nt  of  Krcuch  Monarchy  under  his  Keiga  —  Reigns  of  his 
Chil'lren  —  t^uustiou  of  Salic  Law  —  Claim  of  Udward  HI. 

Bkkoijk  th<;  (•((iidu.-iion  of  tli<'  fifth  eeiitiirv  tlic  iiULrlitv  fabric 
of  em|iir<"  whiL-li  valor  and  policy  had  fuundcd  upon  llic  .-^cven 
hill.-;  of  Rome  was  finally  overthrown  in  all  the  west  <j.,k„  ,,,;„„  „, 

,  J  .  ,  Subversion  of 

ot  Linoj)!,'  ity  the  Ijarbarous  nations  from  the  north,  the  itoman 
who.se  ULirtial  energy  and  whose  numl)ers  wen'  ir-    '"'"'"'-'■ 
resistible.    A  race  of  men,  formerly  unknown  or  despised,  had 
not  only  dismembered  tluit  proud  sovereignty,  but 

....  New  settle- 

permanently  settled  lhem.selves  in  its  fairest  ])rov- nients  of  the 
inee-,  and    impo-ed   their   yoke   upon   the   ancient  it'irharous 

rn,       ,  r        1    1  I-    A  1-  •  nations. 

po.s.-ie.-i.sors.  Ihe  Vandals  were  masters  ot  Africa; 
the  Su<'\  i  held  part  of  Spain  ;  the;  Visigotlis  po.^.-;essed  the 
remainder,  with  a  large  portion  of  Gaul  ;  the  Burgundians 
ocrupied  tlie  provinces  watered  by  the  Rhone  and  Saone  ; 
tin;  O.-trogolh.s  almost  all  Itiily.  The  north-west  of  (iaul, 
between  ti»e  Seine  and  the  Loire,  .some  writers  have  lilled 


16 


INVASION  OF  CI-OVIS. 


Chap.  I.  Paet  I. 


with  an  Armorican  rei^ublic ;  ^  while  the  remainder  was  still 
nominally  subject  to  the  Roman  empire,  and  governed  by  a 
certain  Syagrius,  rather  with  an  inde^^endent  than  a  deputed 
authority. 

At  this  time  Clovis,  king  of  the  Salian  Franks,  a  tribe  of 
Invasion  of  Germans  long  connected  with  Rome,  and  originally 
cioTis.  settled  upon  the  right  bank  of  the  Rhine,^  but  who 

A.D.  486.  had  latterly  penetrated  as  far  as  Tournay  and 
Cambray,^  invaded  Gaul,  and  defeated  Syagrius  at  Soissons. 
The  result  of  this  victory  was  the  subjugation  of  those  prov- 
inces which  had  previously  been  considered  as  Roman.  But 
as  their  allegiance  had  not  been  very  sti-ict,  so  their  loss  was 
not  very  severely  felt ;  since  the  emperors  of  Constantinople 
were  not  too  proud  to  confer  upon  Clovis  the  titles  of  consul 
and  patrician,  which  he  was  too  prudent  to  refuse.* 

Some  years  after  this,  Clovis  defeated  the  Alemanni,  or 


1  It  is  impossible  not  to  speak  scepti- 
cally as  to  this  republic,  or  rather  confed- 
eration of  independent  cities  under  the 
rule  of  their  respective  bishops,  which 
Dubos  has  with  great  ingenuity  raised 
upon  a  passage  of  Zosimus,  but  in  defi- 
ance of  the  silence  of  Gregory,  whose  see 
of  Tours  bordered  upon  their  supposed 
territory.  Yet  his  hypothesis  is  not  to 
be  absolutely  rejected,  because  it  is  by 
no  means  deficient  in  internal  proba- 
bility, and  the  early  part  of  Gregory's 
history  is  brief  and  negligent.  Dubos, 
Hist.  Critique  de  I'Etablissement  des 
Francais  dans  les  Gaules,  t.  i.  p.  253. 
Gibbon,  c.  38,  after  following  Dubos  in 
his  text,  whispers  as  usual,  his  suspicions 
in  a  note.     [Note  I.] 

2  [Note  II.] 

3  The  system  of  Pfere  Daniel  who  de- 
nies any  permanent  settlement  of  the 
Franks  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Rhine 
before  Clovis,  seems  incapable  of  being 
supported.  It  is  difficult  to  resist  the 
presumption  that  arises  from  the  dis- 
covery of  the  tomb  and  skeleton  of 
Childeric,  father  of  Clovis,  at  Tournay, 
in  1653.  See  Montfaucon,  Monumens 
de  la  Monarchic  Francaise,  tome  i.  p. 
10. 

*  The  theory  of  Dubos,  who  considers 
Clovis  as  a  sort  of  lieutenant  of  the  em- 
perors, and  as  governing  the  Roman  part 
of  his  subjects  by  no  other  title,  has 
justly  seemed  extravagant  to  later  crit- 
ical inquirers  into  the  history  of  France. 
But  it  may  nevertheless  be  true  that  the 
connection  between  him  and  the  empire, 
and  the  emblems  of  Roman  magistracy 


which  he  bore,  reconciled  the  conquered 
to  their  new  masters.  This  is  judiciously 
stated  by  the  Duke  de  Nivernois,  Mem. 
de  I'Acad.  des  Inscrip.,  tome  xx.  p.  174. 
[Note  III.]  In  the  sixth  century,  how- 
ever, the  Greeks  appear  to  have  been 
nearly  ignorant  of  Clovis's  countrymen. 
Nothing  can  be  made  out  of  a  passage 
in  Procopius  where  he  seems  to  men- 
tion the  Armoricans  under  the  name 
'Appupvxoi ;  and  Agathias  gives  a 
strangely  romantic  account  of  the 
Franks,  whom  he  extols  for  their  con- 
formity to  Roman  Laws,  TToTiiTELa  ug  TU, 
TToXka  xpi^vrai  'Yufialnri,  km  vofioi^ 
role  avTolg,  koI  tu  uXka  bfioiug  d/i^t 
re  TU  avixjioXaLa  koI  ydfiovg  Koi  ttjv 
Tov  d-Eiov  -dEpdiTScav  vofiiCpvat  .... 
kfiol  ye  doKOvac  a(j)ddpa  elvai.  Koajuoi 

TE    KOi    UdTEWTaTOl,  OvSeV    TE  EXEW  TO 

diulXaTTOv,  7]  fiovov  TO  (iapiidpiKOV 
Ti/c  aToXf/c,  Kat  TO  tt/c  (puvijc  I6iatfiv. 

He  goes  on  to  commend  their  mutual 
union,  and  observes  particularly  that,  in 
partitions  of  the  kingdom,  which  had 
frequently  been  made,  they  had  never 
taken  up  arms  against  each  other,  nor 
polluted  the  land  with  civil  bloodshed. 
One  would  almost  believe  him  ironical. 
The  history  of  Agathias  comes  down  to 
A.D.  559.  At  this  time  many  of  the 
.savage  murders  and  other  crimes  which 
fill  the  pages  of  Gregory  of  Tours,  a 
writer  .somewhat  more  likely  to  know 
the  truth  than  a  Byzantine  rhetorician, 
had  taken  place. 


Fra>ce. 


HIS  CONVEKSIOX. 


17 


Swabian.*,  in  a  great  battle  at  Zulpieh,  near  Cologne.  In 
eonseqiiciice  ot"  a  vow,  as  it  is  said,  made  during  this  eiiLML'e- 
ment,^  and  at  the  instigation  of  his  wile  Clotilda,  a  prineess 
of  Bin-'Tundv,  he  became  a  convert  to  Cin'istianitv. 

"     A.D  496 

It   would   be   a  fruitless  inquiry  whether  he  was 
sincere   in   tiiis  change ;  but  it  is    certain,  at  least,  that  no 
jwlicy  could  have  been  more  successful.     The  Arian   sect, 
whicli    had    been    early  introduced    among    the    barbarous 
nations,    was    predominant,    though    apparently    without    in- 
tolerance,^ in  tlie  Burgundian  and  Visigoth  courts;  but  tlie 
clergy  of   Gaul  were   strenuously  attached  to  the    Catholic 
side,  and,  even   before  his  conversion,  had  favored  tlie  arms 
of  Clo\  is.     Tiiey  now  became  his  most  zealous   supporters, 
and  were  rewarded  by  him  with  artful  gratitude,  and  by  his 
descendants   with   lavish  muniticence.      Upon   the 
pretence  of  religion,  he  attacked  Alaric,  king  of  the 
Visigoths,  and,  by  one  great  \  ictory  near  Poitiers  overthrow- 
ing  their   empire  in   Gaul,  reduced  tliem  to  the  maritime 
province  of  Septimania,  a  narrow  strip  of  coast  between  the 


1  Grfpory  of  Tours  makes  a  Tery  rhe- 
torical story  of  this  famous  tow,  which, 
though  we  raDuot  disprove,  it  may  be 
permitted  to  suspn-ct.  —  L.  ii.  c.  30. 

2  Hist,  de  Langucdoo,  par  Vich  ct  Vais- 
K'ttf,  tome  i.  p.  ^S;  Gibbon,  c.  37.  A 
£|>eciiius  fibjection  niiglit  be  drawn  from 
the  history  of  the  Gothic  monarchies  in 
Italy,  as  well  a.s  Gaul  and  Spain,  to  the 
preat  principles  of  religious  toleration. 
Theac  Arian  sovereigns  treated  their 
Catholic  subject,'*,  it  may  be  8;iid,  with 
tenderiies,s.  le:iving  them  in  pos.svssion  of 
every  civil  priviU-;n>.  and  were  rewarded 
for  it  by  thfir  clcfi-ction  or  sedition.  But 
in  answer  to  this  it  may  be  observed  :  — 
1.  That  the  system  of  pi'rsccution  adopt- 
ed by  the  Vanilals  in  .Africa  succeeded  no 
better,  the  Catholics  of  that  province 
liaving  ris«-n  against  them  upon  the 
lamling  of  Itl'li.^;lrius:  2.  That  we  do  not 
know  what  insults  and  discouragements 
the  Catholics  of  Gaul  anil  lUily  may 
have  en.|un-d.  esjMTially  from  the  Arian 
bishop",  in  that  age  of  bigotry;  although 
the  adniiniKtnilions  of  Alaric  and  Theo 
dori<- wen- lil>enil  and  tolerant:  8.  That 
the  distlction  of  Arian  and  Catholic  wiw 
Intimati-ly  conniTti'd  with  that  of  Goth 
and  Koman,  of  coniniernr  and  conijuered; 
•o  that  it  Is  rliniriilt  to  separate  tin-  ef- 
fwtji  of  national  from  those  of  sectnriati 
anlnioslty. 

The    t<ilernnco   of   the   Vlsiguth   sove- 
relgno    must     not    be    pralned    without 
VOL.  I.  2 


making  an  exception  for  Euric,  predeces- 
sor of  .\laric.  He  was  a  prince  of  some 
eminent  qualities,  but  so  zealous  in  his 
religion  as  to  bear  hardly  on  his  Catholic 
subjects.  Sidonius  ApolUnaris  loudly 
complains  that  no  bislioprics  were  per- 
mitted to  be  filled,  that  the  churches 
went  to  ruin,  and  that  Arianism  made  a 
great  progress.  (Fauriel.  Hist,  de  la 
Oaule  Meridionalc,  vol.  i.  p.  578.  Vnder 
Alaric  himself,  however,  as  well  as  under 
the  earlier  kings  of  the  A'isigothic  dy- 
nasty, a  more  liberal  spirit  prevailed. 
S;ilvian,  about  the  middle  of  the  fifth 
century,  extols  the  Visigothic  govern- 
ment, in  comparison  witli  that  of  the 
empire,  whose  vices  and  despotism  had 
met  with  a  de-scrved  termination.  Ku- 
cherius  speaks  of  the  Burgundians  in  the 
san)e  manner.  (Id.  ibid,  and  vol.  ii.  p. 
28.)  Yet  it  must  have  been  in  it.<elf 
mortifying  to  live  in  subjection  to  bar- 
barians and  heretics;  not  to  niention  the 
lins/iiialil!/,  ivi  it  was  called,  which  the 
natives  were  obliged  to  exercise  towards 
the  invaders,  by  ceding  two  thirds  of 
their  lan<ls.  What,  then,  must  the  West- 
ern empire  have  been,  when  such  a  con- 
dition was  comparatively  enviable  !  Hut 
it  is  more  than  probable  that  (lie  {iaulinh 
bishoi)S  subject  to  the  Vi.-iiriillK  hailed 
the  invasicmof  the  Franks  with  sanguine 
hope,  and  were  undoubtedly  great  gain- 
ers by  the  exchange. 


18  DESCENDANTS  OF  CLOVIS.      Chap.  I.  Part  I. 

Rhone  and  the  Pyrenees.  The  last  exploits  of  Clovis  were 
the  redaction  of  certain  independent  chiefs  of  his  own  tribe 
and  fiunily,  who  were  settled  in  the  neighborhood  of  the 
Ehine.^  All  these  he  put  to  death  by  force  or  treachery ;  for 
he  was  cast  in  the  true  mould  of  conquerors,  and  may  justly 
be  ranked  among  the  first  of  his  class,  both  for  the  splendor 
and  the  guiltiness  of  his  ambition.^ 

Clovis  left  four  sons ;  one  illegitimate,  or  at  least  born  be- 
fore his  conversion ;  and  three  by  his  queen  Clotilda.  These 
His  de-  four   made,  it  is  said,  an  equal    partition  of  his 

scendants.  dominions,  which  comprehended  not  only  France, 
A.B.  611.  but  the  western  and  centx-al  parts  of  Germany, 
besides  Bavaria,  and  perhaps  Swabia,  which  were  governed 
by  their  own  dependent,  but  hereditary,  chiefs.  Thierry,  the 
eldest,  had  what  was  called  Austrasia,  the  eastern  or  Ger- 
man division,  and  fixed  his  capital  at  Metz ;  Clodomir,  at 
Orleans ;   Childebert,  at   Paris ;  and   Clotaire,  at    Soissons.^ 

1  Modern  historians,   in  enumerating  of  Clovis's  empire  into  portions,  of  which 

these   reguli,  call  one  of  them  king  of  Paris,  Orleans,  Metz,  and  Soissons  should 

Mans.     But  it  is  difficult  to  understand  be  the  respective  capitals.     I  apprehend, 

how  a  chieftain,  independent  of  Clovis,  in  fact,  that  Gregory's  expression  is  not 

could  have  been  settled  in  that  part  of  very  precise.     The  kingdom  of  Soissons 

France.     In  fact,  Gregory  of  Tours,  our  seems  to  have  been  the  least  of  the  four, 

only  authority,   does   not  say  that  this  and  that  of  Austrasia  the  greatest.     But 

prince,  Regnomeris,  was   king  of  Mans,  the    partitions   made  by   these    princes 

but  that  he  was  put   to  death  in  that  were    exceedingly    complex;     insulated 

city:  apud  Cenomannis  civitatem  jussu  fragments   of  territory,  and  even  undi- 

Chlodovechi  interfectus  est.  vided   shares  of  cities,  being  allotted  to 

The  late  French  writers,  as  far  as  I  the  worse-provided  brothers,  by  way  of 
have  observed,  continue  to  place  a  king-  compensation,  out  of  the  larger  king- 
dom at  Mans.  It  is  certain,  neverthe-  doms.  It  would  be  very  difficult  to 
less,  that  Gregory  of  Tours,  and  they  ascertain  the  hmits  of  these  minor  mon- 
have  no  other  evidence,  does  not  assert  archies.  But  the  French  empire  was  al- 
this ;  and  his  expressions  rather  lead  to  ways  considered  as  one,  whatever  might 
the  contrary;  since,  if  Regnomeris  were  be  the  number  of  its  inheritors;  and 
king  of  Mans,  why  should  we  not  have  from  accidental  circumstances  it  was  so 
been  informed  of  it?  It  is,  indeed,  im-  frequently  reunited  as  fully  to  keep  up 
possible  to  determine  such  a  point  nega-  this  notion. 

tively  from  our  scanty  materials ;  but  if  M.  Fauriel    endeavors    to    show    the 

a  Frank  kingdom  had  been  formed  at  equality  of  this   partition    (Hist,    de    la 

Mans  before  the  battle  of  Soissons,  this  Gaule   Meridiouale,  vol.  ii.  p.  92.)    But 

must  considerably  alter  the  received  no-  he  is  obliged  to  suppose  that  Germany 

tions  of  the  history  of  Gaul  in  the  fifth  beyond  the  Rhine,  part  of  which  owned 

century  ;  and  it  seems  difficult  to  under-  the   dominion  of  Clovis,  was  counted  as 

stand  liow  it  could  have  sprung  up  after-  nothing,  not  being  inhabited  by  Franks, 

wards  during  the  reign  of  Clovis.  It   was  something,  nevertheless,   in   the 

"  The  reader  will  be  gratified  by  an  ad-  scale  of  power  ;    since  from    this    fertile 

mirable  memoir,  by  the  Duke  de  Niver-  source  the  Austrasian  kings  continually 

nois,  on    the   policy   of   Clovis,   in    the  recruited  their  armies.     Aquitaine,  that 

twentieth  volume  of  the  Academy  of  In-  is,  the  provinces  south  of  the  Loire,  was 

scriptions.  divided  into  three,  or  rather  perhaps  two 

3  Quatuor    filii   rognum  accipiunt,  et  portions.  For  though  Thierry  and  Childe- 

inter   se   a>qui   lance   dividunt.  —  Greg,  bert  had  considerable  territories,  it  seems 

Tur.  1.  iii.  c.  1.     It  would  rather  perplex  not  certain  that  Clodomir  took  any  share, 

a  geographer  to  make  an  equal  division  and  improbable  that  Clofeiire  had  one. 


France. 


DESCENDANTS   OF  CLOVIS. 


10 


During  their  reifms  the  monarchy  was  apfgrandized  by  the  oon- 
qiie-t  of  Biirgiuitly.     Clotairo,  tho  youngest  brother.    ^  ^  ^ 
uUiniately  reunited  all  the  kingdoms ;  but  upon  his 
death    they   were   again   divided  among  his  four    sons,   and 
brought   together  a  second  time  by  another  Clo-   ^^  ^^g 
taire,  tlie  grandson  to  the  first.     It  is  a  weary  and 
unprotitaltie  task  to  loUow  these  changes   in  detail,  through 
scenes  of  tumuU   and   bloodshed,  in  which    the  eye  meets 
with  no  sunshine,  nor  can  rest  upon  any  interesting  spot.     It, 
would  be  difficult,  as  Gibbon  has  justly  observed,  to  find  any- 
where more  vice  or  less  virtue.     The  names  of  two  queens 
are  distinguished  even  in  that  age  for  the  magnitude  of  their 
crimes :  Fredegonde,  the  wife  of  Chili)eric,  of  wliose  atroci- 
ties none  have  doubted  ;  and  Bruneliaut,  queen  of  Austrasia, 
who  has  met  with  advocates  in  modern  times,  less,  perhaps, 
from  anv  fair  presumptions  of  her  innocence  than  from  com- 
passion for  the  cruel  death  which  she  underwent.^ 


Thierry,  therefore,  king  of  Austrasi.-i, 
may  l>e  reckoned  the  best  provideil  of  tlio 
brethren.  It  will  be  ohviou?  from  the 
map  that  the  four  rapitals,  Metz.  Sois- 
8ons,  I'arif",  and  Orleans,  are  situated  at 
no  great  dij^tttnce  from  each  other,  rela- 
tively to  the  whole  of  France.  They 
were',  therefore,  in  the  centre  of  force; 
and  the  brothers  might  have  lent  assis- 
tance to  each  other  in  case  of  a  national 
revolt. 

The  r&nfe  of  this  complexity  in  the 
partition  of  France  anionj;  the  sons  of 
(.'lovLs  lia.s  be<-n  conjectun-ii  by  Dubos, 
with  whom  Si-mondi  (vol.  i.  p.  242) 
agn-vs,  to  have  been  their  desire  of  own- 
hi;;  ari  8ubje<'ts  an  equal  number  of 
Frank.".  Tliis  is  supjHirted  by  a  passage 
in  Ainithia."".  quoted  by  the  former,  Hist, 
de  rKtablissement,  vol.  ii.  p.  413.  Others 
have  Cmci.-d  that  Afjuitjiine  was  reck- 
oned Uxi  delirious  a  nmrsel  to  be  enjoyed 
by  only  one  bnither.  In  the  second  great 
partition,  that  of  ;>!T  (for  that  of  5t51  did 
not  lii>t  long),  when  .^igebert,  Oontnin, 
and  Cliilperii-  t'xik  the  kingdoms  of  Aus- 
traiila,  Murgundy,  anil  what  wa«  after- 
warli  rallinj  Neustria,  the  southern 
provinces  wen;  again  equally  divided. 
Til       ■'  '• 'I  to  the  king  of  I'aris, 

or  ■  \ix  and  Avignon  were 

In  .'u'   <  "'  ■■•   ''  ■'  .iindy. 

'  Every  hlKtory  will  give  a  sufficient 
epitome  nl  the  Menvingian  dyiuu<ty. 
The  facts  of  thi-^e  tlniei  an-  of  little  other 
Importance  than  as  they  Impress  on  the 
mind  a  fhopiugli  notion  of  the  extreme 
wickedno^s  of  ulmoitt  every  j>«r»ou  con- 


cerned in  them,  and  consequently  of 
the  state  to  which  society  was  reduced 
But  there  is  no  advantage  in  crowding 
the  memory  with  barbarian  wars  and 
assassinations.     [XoTE  IV.] 

For  the  question  about  Urunehaut's 
character,  who  has  had  partisans  al- 
most as  enthu.siastic  as  those  of  Mary  of 
Scotland,  the  reader  may  consult  Pas- 
quier.  Kecherches  de  la  France,  1.  viii., 
or  Velly,  Uist.  de  France,  tome  i.,  on  one 
side,  and  a  dissertation  by  Gaillanl.  in 
the  .Memoirs  of  the  Academy  of  Inscrip- 
tions, tome  XXX.,  on  the  other.  The  la.st 
is  unfavorable  to  Bruneliaut,  and  per- 
fectly satisfactory  to  my  jiid|jrment. 

Bruneliaut  was  no  unimportant  per- 
sonage in  this  history.  She  had  become 
hateful  to  the  Austrasian  aristocracy  by 
her  Gothic  blood,  and  still  more  by  her 
Human  |)rinoi|iles  of  government.  There 
wius  evidently  a  combination  to  throw  off 
the  yoke  fif  rivilizt'd  tyranny.  It  was  a 
gr<-at  conHict,  which  ended  in  the  virtual 
dethronement  of  the  house  of  Clovis. 
Much,  therefore,  may  have  been  exiig- 
genited  by  Frt-'legarius,  a  Burgumlian  by 
birth,  in    relating  the  crimes  of  Hrune- 

haut.      But,  niiliappily.   the   ant4 lent 

presumption,  in  tlie  histf)ry  of  that  age, 
is  always  on  the  worse  side.  She  was  un- 
questionably endowed  with  a  maseiilini- 
energy  of  mind,  and  very  sujierior  to 
Buch  a  mere  imp  of  audacious  wickedness 
a.s  Kredi'gonde.  Bruneliaut  left  a  great 
and  almost  fabulous  iihmh';  public  causo- 
wavs,  t/(wer»,  castles,  in  ililTeriiit  partj« 
of  France,  are  popularly  ascribed  to  her. 


20  MAYORS   OF  THE  PALACE.    Chap.  I.  Part  I. 

But  after  Dagobert,  son  of  Clotaire  II.,  the  kings  of 
A  D  628-638    France  dwindled  into  personal  insignificance,  and 

are  generally  treated  by  later  historians  as  insen- 
degeneracy.  sati,  or  idiots.^  The  whole  power  of  the  kingdom 
Mayors  of  devolved  upon  the  mayors  of  the  palace,  originally 
the  palace,  officers  of  the  household,  through  whom  petitions 
or  representations  were  laid  before  the  king.^  The  weakness 
of  sovereigns  rendered  this  office  important,  and  still  greater 
weakness  suffered  it  to  become  elective ;  men  of  energetic 
talents  and  ambition  united  it  with  military  command ;  and 
the  history  of  France  for  half  a  century  presents  no  names 
more  conspicuous  than  those  of  Ebroin  and  Grimoald,  may- 
ors of  Neustria  and  Austrasia,  the  western  and  eastern  divi- 
sions of  the  French  monarchy.^  These,  however,  met  with 
violent  ends ;  but  a  more  successful  usurper  of  the  royal 
authority  was  Pepin  Heristal,  first  mayor,  and  afterwards 
duke,  of  Austrasia ;  who  united  with  almost  an  avowed 
sovereignty  over  that  division  a  paramount  command  over  the 
French  or  Neustrian  provinces,  where  nominal  kings  of  the 
Merovingian  family  were  still  permitted  to  exist.*  This  au- 
thority he  transmitted  to  a  more  renowned  hero,  his  son, 
Charles  Martel,  who,  after  some  less  important  exploits,  was 
called  upon  to  encounter  a  new  and  terrible  enemy.  The 
Saracens,  after  subjugating  Spain,  had  penetrated  into  the 
^„       very  heart  of  France.     Cliarles  Martel  gained  a 

complete  victory  over  them  between  Tours  and 
Poitiers,^  in  which  300,000  Mohammedans  are  hyperbolically 

It  has  even  been  suspected  by  some  that  that  denominated  Neustria,  to  which  Eur- 

Bhe  suggested  the  appellation  of  Brune-  gundy  was  generally  appendant,  though 

child  in  the  Nibelungeii  Lied.    That  there  distinctly  governed   by  a   mayor  of  its 

is  no  resemblance  in  the  story,  or  in  the  own  election.     But  Aquitaine,  the  exact 

character,  courage  excepted,  of  the  two  bounds   of  which   I   do  not  know,  was, 

heroines,  cannot  be  thought  an   objec-  from  the  time  of  Dagobert  I.,  separated 

tion.  from  the  rest  of  the  monarchy,  under  a 

1  An  ingenious  attempt  is  made  by  the  dncal    dynasty,    sprung    from    Aribert, 

Abbe  Vertot,  Mem.  de  I'Academie,  tome  brother  of  that  monarch.     [Note  VI.] 

vi.,  to  rescue  these  monarchs  from  this  [*  Note  VII.] 

long-established    imputation.     But     the  6  Tours  is  above  seventy  miles  distant 

leading  fact  is  irresistible,  that    all  the  from  Poitiers;  but  I  do  not  find  that  any 

royal    authority   was  lost    during    their  French  antiquary  has  been  able  to  ascer- 

reigns.     However,  the  best  apology  seems  tain   the  place  of  this  great  battle  with 

to  be,  that,  after  the  victories  of  Pepin  more   precision;    which    is    remarkable, 

Heristal,  the  Merovingian  kings  were,  in  since,  after  so  immense  a  slaughter,  we 

effect,  conquered,  and   their   inefficiency  should  expect  the  testimony  of  "  grandia 

was  a  matter  of  necessary  submission  to  effossis  ossa  sepulcris."     It  is  now,  how- 

a  master.  ever,  believed  that  the  slaughter  at  the 

"  [Note  V.]  battle  near  Poitiers  was  by  no  means 

3  The   original  kingdoms   of  Soissons,  immense,    and    even   that  the  Saracens 

Paris,  and  Orleans  were  cousoUdated  into  retired  without  a  decisive  action.     (Sis- 


Fra.\ce.  accession  OF  PEPIX.  21 

asserted  to  have  fallen.  The  reward  of  this  victory  \va<  the 
province  of  Septiuiania,  which  the  Saracens  had  conquered 
from  the  Visigollis.' 

Such  powerful  subjects  were  not  likely  to  remain  long  con- 
tented without  the  crown  ;  hut  the  circumstances  un-   „, 

I  I  •    1     •  !•  1  .'  I  ,'  /-^i       •       Cliange  ia 

iler  which  it  was  transierrcd  trom  the  race  ot  Liovis    tiie  royal 
are  connected  with  one  of  the  most  important  revo-   '^;'""'>'-. 
luiions  in  the  history  ot  Europe.     The  mayor  Pe-   of  ivpin. 
pin.  inlieriting  his  father  Charles  ]\[artel's  talents   ^'^'  '^~ 
and  ambition,  made,  in  tlie  name  and  with  the  consent  of  the 
nation,  a  solemn  reference  to  tlie  Pope  Zacharias,  as  to  the 
dejjo-ition  of  Childeric  III.,  under  whose  nominal  aiithoritv 
he  himself  was  reigning.     The  decision  was  favorable  ;  tliat 
he  who  possessed  the  power  should  also  bear  the  title  of  king. 
The  unfortunate  Merovingian  was  dismissed  into  a  convent, 
and  the  Franks,  with  one  consent,  raised  Pepin  to  tlie  throne, 
the  founder  of  a  more  illustrious  dynasty.^     In  order  to  judge 
of  the  importance  of  this  revolution  to  the  see  of  Rome,  as 
well  as  to  France,  we  must  turn  our  eyes  upon  the  atfliirs 
of  Italy. 

The  dominion  of  the  Ostrogoths  was  annihilated  by  the 
arms  of  Belisarius  and  Narses  in  the  sixth  century,  -fho  Lom- 
and  that  nation  appears  no  more  in  history.  But  '''''■^''■ 
not  long  afterwards  the  Lombards,  a  people  for  some  time 
settled  in  Paimonia,  not  only  subdued  that  northern  part  of 
Italy  which  has  retained  their  name,  but,  extending  themselves 
soutiiward,  formed  tli(i  powerful  duchies  of  Spoleto  and  Bene- 
vento.  The  residence  of  their  kings  was  in  Pavia ;  but  the 
hereditixry  vassals,  who  held    those    two  duchies,  might  be 

mou'li.  ii.l32;  Miclielot,  il.l3.)  Therccan  Wa-i  not  ttiis  the  fatal  error  by  which 
be  no  Joubt  but  that  the  battle  was  Ilodcrio  hail  lost  his  kingdom?  Was  it 
fou^'ht  much  nearer  to  Poitiers  than  to  possiblu  tliat  the  Saraoeiis  couM  have 
TourH.  rctjiineil  any  permanent  possession  of 
The  victory  of  Cltarlen  Martel  has  im-  France  except  by  means  of  a  victory  .' 
mirtali/>itd  hi-)  name,  an<l  may  justly  Iw  Ami  ili>l  not  the  contest  upon  the  bnn. I 
ri'kiiuej  amoM^  tho<e  lew  battles  of  chamiiaif^n  of  I'oitou  alTunl  tliem  a  coji- 
wlii.-li  a  contrary  event  woul-l  have  es-  si'lerable  prospect  of  success,  which  a 
t-.iiriilly  rarieil  the  <lrima  of  the  world  more  cautious  policy  would  liave  with- 
in .ill  it«  KUbsequeiit  icuncs  ;   with  Mara-  held? 

tlion.    Arlxfln,     the    Metaurus.    Chalons,  I  This    conquest    wius     completed     by 

and  r<i;ip«ic.     Yet  do  wu  not  judk'c  a  lit-  I'epin  in  ".W.     The  inhabitints  prei-ervcil 

t!-'  t'»i  Miii'-h  tiv  til"' event,  and  follow,  as  tln-ir   liberties    by  treaty;  and    VaisM'tle 

n-uii    111  111.-  .V  ike  i»r  f  irtunc!  ?     Itxs  not  deduces  from  this  sniemu  assurance   the 

'                            '     i-xiM-rienco    I'oudr-mnecl  privile;;nsof  fjanguedoc.  —  Uist.  de  Liing. 

!••  f.ite  of  empin-s   upon  a  tome  i.  p.  412. 

I  rl»li  a  general  battli'  with  '■'INorE  Vlll.] 
laTa<ii.T«,  whuso  grvaltT  peril  U  in  delay  ? 


22  CHARLEaiAGNE.  Chap.  I.  Paet  I. 

deemed  almost  independent  sovereigns.-'  The  rest  of  Italy 
was  governed  by  exarchs,  deputed  by  the  Greek  emperors, 
and  fixed  at  Ravenna.  In  Rome  itself  neither  the  people 
nor  the  bishops,  who  had  already  conceived  in  part  their 
schemes  of  ambition,  were  much  inclined  to  endure  the  supe- 
riority of  Constantinople ;  yet  their  disaffection  was  counter- 
balanced by  the  inveterate  hatred  as  well  as  jealousy,  with 
which  they  regarded  the  Lombards.  But  an  impohtic  and 
intemperate  persecution,  carried  on  by  two  or  three  Greek 
emperors  against  a  favorite  superstition,  the  worship  of  im- 
ages, excited  commotions  throughout  Italy,  of  wliich  the  Lom- 
They  bards  took  advantage,  and  easily  wrested  the  ex- 

reduce  the      archate  of  Ravenna  from  the  eastern  empire.     It 

exarchate  /•       /.  i         i      •  f>     i  i     • 

of  Ravenna,  was  tar  irom  the  design  ot  the  popes  to  see  then* 
A.D.  (0-;  nearest  enemies  so  much  aggrandized;  and  any 
effectual  assistance  from  the  emperor  Constantine  Coprony- 
mus  would  have  kept  Rome  still  faithful.  But  having  no 
hope  from  his  arms,  and  provoked  by  his  obstinate  intolerance, 
the  pontiffs  had  recourse  to  France ;  ^  and  the  service  they 
had  rendered  to  Pepin  led  to  reciprocal  obligations  of  the 
which  greatest  magnitude.     At   the  request  of  Stephen 

Pepin  Ji.  the  new  king  of   France  descended  from  the 

and  bestows  Alps,  drove  the  Lombards  from  their  recent  con- 
on  the  pope,  questg^  and  conferred  them  upon  the  pope.  This 
memorable  donation  nearly  comprised  the  modern  provinces 
of  Romagna  and  the  March  of  Ancona.^ 

The  state  of  Italy,  which  had  undergone  no  change  for 

nearly  two  centuries,  was  now  rapidly  verging  to  a  great 

revolution.     Under  the  shadow  of  a  mighty  name 

"  the  Greek  empire  had  concealed  the  extent  of  its 

decline.     That  charm  was  now  broken :  and  the 

Lombard   kingdom,  which  had  hitherto  appeared  the   only 

competitor  in  the  lists,  proved  to  have  lost  his  own  energy 

in   awaiting  the  occasion  for  its  display.     France  was  far 

more  than  a  match  for  the  power  of  Italy,  even  if  she  had 

not  been  guided  by  the  towering  ambition  and  restless  ac- 

1  The  history,  character,  and  policy  of  tures  to  Charles  Martel  as  well  as  to 

the  Lombards  are  well   treated   by  Gib-  Pepin  himself;   the  habitual  sagiicity  of 

bon,  c.  45.     See,  too,  the  fourth  and  fifth  the  court  of  Rome  perceiviug  the  growth 

books  of  Giannone,  and  some  papers  by  of  anew  western  monarchy,  which  would 

Qaillard  in  the  Memoirs  of  the  Academy  be,  in  faith  and  arms,  their  surest  ally. 

of  Inscriptions,  tomes  xxjdi.,  xxxv.,  xlv.  Muratori,  Ann.  d'ltal.  a.d.  741. 

SThere  had  been  some  previous  over-  SQiannone,  1.  v.  c.  2. 


France.  CONQUESTS  OF  CHAKLEMAGNE.  23 

tivity  of  the  son  of  Pepin.     It  was  almost  the  first  exploit 
of   Charlcmairne,  after   the  death  of  his  brother  ^  j,  -^2. 
CiU'loinaii  hail  reunited  the  Frankish  empire  under  ue  conquers 
liis  dominion,^  to  subjugate  the  kingdom  of  Lorn-  LouibarUy; 
bardy.     Neither  Pavia  nor  Verona,  its  most  con-  *"■  ""■*• 
siderable  cities,  interposed  any  material  delay  to  his  arms : 
and  the  chief  resistance  he  encountered  was  from  the  dukes 
of  Friuli  and  Benevento,  the  latter  of  whom  could  never  be 
brought   into  thorough   subjection   to  the  conqueror.     Italy, 
however,  be  the  cause  what  it  might,  seems  to  have  tempted 
Charlemagne  far  less  than  the  dark  forests  of  Germany.    For 
neither  the  southern  |)i'()vinees,  nor  Sicily,  could  have  with- 
stood his  power  if  it  had  been  steadily  directed  against  them. 
Even  Spain  hardlv  di'ew  so  much  of  his  attention         ^„    . 

1  1       1  /•■'i  •  •    1  11      1  partofSpain; 

as  tlie  splendor  ot  the  prize  might  naturally  have 
excited.  He  gained,  however,  a  very  important  accession  to 
his  empire,  by  conquering  from  the  Saracens  the  territory 
contained  between  the  Pyrenees  and  the  Ebro.  This  was 
formed  into  the  Spanish  March,  governed  by  the  count  of 
Barcelona,  part  of  which  at  least  must  I)e  considered  as  ap- 
pertaining to  France  till  the  twelfth  century.'^ 

But  the  most  tedious  and  difficult  achievement  of  Chai'le- 
magne  was  the  reduction  of  the  Saxons.  The 
wars  with  this  nation,  who  occupied  nearly  the  *°  a^cony. 
modern  circles  of  Westphalia  and  Lower  Saxony,  lasted  for 
thirty  years.  Whenever  the  conqueror  withdrew  his  armies, 
or  even  liis  person,  the  Saxons  broke  into  fresh  rebellion, 
which  his  unparalleled  rajiidity  of  movement  seldom  failed 
to  crush  without  delay.  From  such  perseverance  on  either 
side,  destruction  of  the  weaker  could  alone  result.  A  large 
colony  of  Saxons  were  finally  transplanted  into  Flanders  and 
Brabant,  countries  hitherto  ill-peopled,  in  which  their  descend- 

1  Carloman,  younger  brother  of  Charles,  kings  of  France,  till  some  time  after  their 

took  the  Auxtrisinn  or  fiiTiiian  provinces  own   title  had   been  nicreej  in   that  of 

of  the  empire.     The  custom  of  partition  kiii(p<  of  AniRon.     In  llsd  le^nil   inslru- 

was  ("»  fully  f.ttJiblisheiJ,  that  those  wI.hc  ments  executed  in  CaUiloiiia  ccjiscd  to  lie 

and  ambitimiH    princen,   Cliarles   Martel,  dated  by  the  year  of  tlie  kiui;  of  Knince; 

Pepin,  and  ('harlema);iie  hiuifudf,  did  not  and  as  there  certainly  remained  no  other 

Tentun-  to  thwart  the  public  opinion  by  murk   of  dependence,   the  separation   of 

lutrrxlucing    primogeniture.      Carloman  the  principality  nuiy  bo  referred  to  that 

would    not   long   have  fUxxl  against    his  year.       But    the    rights    of    the    Krench 

bnither:    who,  after  his  death,   u.'<urped  crown    over    it    were    linally     ceded     by 

the  inheribince  of  hii*  two  infant   chil-  Ixiuis   iX.    In    I'i/iH.     De    Marca,    .Mare* 

dnrn.  Hispanica,   p.   fill.     Art  de  TerlUcr  leu 

-  Tlie  counto  of  narrclona  always  ac-  Dates,  t.  ii.  \i.  21(1. 
knowledj^ed  the  feudal  superiority  of  the 


24  EXTENT  OF  HIS  DOMINIONS.    Chap.  I.  Part  I. 

ants  preserved  the  same  unconquerable  spirit  of  resistance  to 
oppression.  Many  fled  to  the  kingdoms  of  Scandinavia,  and, 
mingUng  with  the  Northmen,  who  were  just  preparing  to  run 
their  memorable  career,  revenged  upon  the  children  and  sub- 
jects of  Charlemagne  the  devastation  of  Saxony.  The  rem- 
nant embraced  Christianity,  their  aversion  to  which  had  been 
the  chief  cause  of  their  rebellions,  and  acknowledged  the 
sovereignty  of  Charlemagne  —  a  submission  which  even 
"Witikind,  the  second  Arminius  of  Germany,  after  such 
iri'esistible  conviction  of  her  destiny,  did  not  disdain  to 
make.  But  they  retained,  in  the  main,  their  own  laws ; 
they  were  governed  by  a  duke  of  their  own  nation,  if  not 
of  their  own  election ;  and  for  many  ages  they  were  dis- 
tinguished by  their  original  character  among  the  nations  of 
Germany.^ 

The  successes  of  Charlemagne  on  the  eastern  frontier  of 
his  empire  against  the  Sclavonians  of  Bohemia  and  Huns  or 
Avars  of  Pannonia,  though  obtained  with  less  cost,  wei'e 
hardly  less  eminent.  In  all  his  wars  the  newly  conquered 
nations,  or  those  whom  fear  had  made  dependent  allies, 
were  employed  to  subjugate  their  neighboi^s,  and  the  inces- 
sant waste  of  fatigue  and  the  sword  was  supplied  by  a  fresh 
population  that  swelled  the  expanding  circle  of  dominion. 
Extent  of  Ms  I  do  not  kuow  that  the  limits  of  the  new  western 
dominions,  empire  are  very  exactly  defined  by  contemporary 
writers,  nor  would  it  be  easy  to  appreciate  the  degree  of 
subjection  in  which  the  Sclavonian  tribes  were  held.  As  an 
organized  mass  of  provinces,  regularly  governed  by  imperial 
officers,  it  seems  to  have  been  nearly  bounded,  in  Germany, 
by  the  Elbe,  the  Saale,  the  Bohemian  mountains,  and  a  line 
drawn  from  thence  crossing  the  Danube  above  Vienna,  and 
prolonged  to  the  Gulf  of  Istria.  Part  of  Dalmatia  was  com- 
prised in  the  duchy  of  Friuli.  In  Italy  the  empire  extended 
not  much  beyond  the  modern  frontier  of  Naples,  if  we 
exclude,  as  was  the  fact,  the  duchy  of  Benevento  from  any- 
thing more  than  a  titular  subjection.  The  Spanish  boundary, 
as  has  been  said  akeady,  was  the  Ebro.''' 

1  [Note  IX.]  the  Oaer  and  frontiers  of  Poland.    The 

2  I  follow  in  this  the  map  of  Koch,  in  authors  of  L'Art  de  verifier  les  Dates 
hLs  Tableau  des  llevolutions  dePEurope,  extend  it  to  the  Raab.  It  would  require 
tome  i.  That  of  Vaugondy,  Paris,  1752,  a  long  examination  to  give  a  precise 
includes  the  dependent  Sclavonic  tribes,  statement. 

and  carries  the  limit  of  the  empire  to 


Fr.v>ce.  COKOXATIOX  OF  CU.UILEJLV.GXE.  25 

A  seal  was  put  to  the  glory  of  Chiu'leniagne  when  Leo  III., 
in  the   name  of  the   Roman   people,  placed   upon  uisooronn- 
his  liead  the  imperial  erown.     Wis  father,  Pt-pin,  p^.^^r''' *^"'" 
had  borne  the  title  of  Patrician,  and  he  had  him-  a.d.  800. 
self  exercised,  with    that    title,   a  regular   sovereignty  over 
Rome.^     3Ioney  was  coined  in  his  name,  and  an  oath  of  fidel- 
ity wivs  taken  by  the  clergy  and  people.     But  the  ai)peUation 
of  Emperor  seemed  to  place  his  authority  over  all  his  subjects 
on  a  new  footing.     It  was  full  of  high  and  indefinite  preten- 
sion, tending  to  overshadow  the  free  election  of  the   Franks 
by  a  fictitious  descent  from  Augustus.     A  fresh  oath  (ft'  fidel- 
ity to  him  as  em[)eror  was  demanded  from  his  sul»jects.     His 
own  discretion,  howevei",  prevented  him  from  ati'ecthig  tliose 
more  despotic  prerogatives  which  the  imperial  name  might 
still  be  supposed  to  convey .'- 

Li  analyzing  the  cliaraeters  of  heroes  it  is  hardly  possible 
to  separate  altogether  the  share  of  fortune  from 
their  own.  The  epoch  made  by  Charlemagne  in  """^  ""^"^  "'^' 
the  history  of  the  world,  the  illustrious  families  which  ]irided 
themselves  in  him  as  their  progenitor,  the  very  legends  of 
romance,  which  are  full  of  his  fabulous  exploits,  have  cast  a 
lustre  around  his  head,  and  testify  the  greatness  that  has  em- 
bodied itself  in  his  name.  None,  indeed,  of  Cliarlemagne's 
wars  can  be  compared  with  the  Saracenic  victory  of  Charles 
]\Iartel ;  but  that  was  a  contest  for  freedom,  his  for  conquest ; 
and  fame  is  more  partial  to  successful  aggression  than  to  pat- 
riotic resistance.  As  a  scholar,  his  acquisitions  were  probably 
little  superior  to  those  of  his  unrespected  son  ;  and  in  several 
points  of  view  the  glory  of  Charlemagne  might  be  extenuated 

I  The  Patricians  of  the  lower  empire  abrogiited.     Muriitori,    Annali    d'ltalin, 

were  Krjveriinr.H  si-ut  from  Coiistuntinoplo  ad.  ami.  772;  St.  .Mare,  t.  i.  \).  &'j>>,  372. 

to  tlje  proviiire.i.     Kuiiie  had  loii^  been  A   mosaic,    still   e.xtaut   iii    tlie    Liiteniu 

accustomed    to  their   iiiiiiic   and    power,  palace,  represents  our  Saviour  frivhii;  tlio 

The    BuhjiTtion    of    the    Komiiiin,    both  Iteys  to  St.    Peter   with   one    hand,  and 

clertor  and  lai'v,  to  Ch.irlemni^ne,  aj«  well  with  the  other  a  standard  to  a  crowued 

In-fore   lui   after    he    bore    the    imperial  prince,  bearing;  the  inscription  Con.stjiu- 

name.  neemn  to  be  cxtablisheil.     See  Di.s-  tine    V.      Ilut   Constantine   V.    did    not 

fiertatiou  III»torii{Ue.  par  le  Ulanc,  sub-  beyin  to  reinn  till  780  ;  and  if  this  piece 

joined    to   hiK    Truiti    de    .Monnoyes   do  of  workmanship   wan    made   umler    l-oo 

Kmnce,    p.   IS;   and    St.    Marc,    Abre(;6  III.,  as  the  authors  of  L'.Vrt  cle  vtiritier 

ClirOMoloidnue  de   rilistoirc    dc    I'ltalie,  les  Dates  imagine,  it  conld  not  be  earlier 

t.  I.     The  llr^t  of  these  writers  does  not  than    795.      T.    i.    p.    2<i2;    .Munitorl    ad 

allow  that  I'epiii  exeni«'d  any  authority  ami.   7U8.     However    this  may  be,  there 

at  Komc.      A  ({""J  d>-.il  of  ob.scurity  rests  can  be   no  i|m'stion   that  a  considenible 

over   It*    int<-riial    Kovernment    for    near  shari-  of  jurisdiction  aii'l  authority  wiu 

fifty  years;  but  then-  Is  some  reason   to  practically  exercise.l  by  the  po|M'S  dnring 

U.diere  tlint  the  iiomimil  RoveieiKiity  of  this  period.     Vid.  Mural,  ad  aun.  7bU. 
the   (irvek    emperon   was    not    entirely        'J  ISoTti  X.] 


26        CHARACTER  OF  CHARLEMAGNE.  Chap.  I.  Part  I. 

by  an  analytical  dissection.^  But  rejecting  a  mode  of  judging 
equally  uncandid  and  fallacious,  we  shall  find  that  he  pos- 
sessed in  everything  that  grandeur  of  conception  which  dis- 
tinguishes extraordinary  minds.  Like  Alexander,  he  seemed 
born  for  universal  innovation :  in  a  hfe  restlessly  active,  we  see 
him  reforming  the  coinage  and  establishing  the  legal  divisions 
of  money  ;  gathering  about  him  the  learned  of  every  country  ; 
founding  schools  and  collecting  libraries ;  interfering,  but  with 
the  tone  of  a  king,  in  religious  controversies  ;  aiming,  though 
prematurely,  at  the  formation  of  a  naval  force ;  attempting, 
for  the>  saie  of  commerce,  the  magnificent  enterprise  of 
uniting  the  Rhine  and  Danube ;  ^  and  meditating  to  mould 
the  discordant  codes  of  Roman  and  barbarian  laws  into  an 
uniform  system. 

The  great  qualities  of  Charlemagne  were,  indeed,  alloyed 
by  the  vices  of  a  barbarian  and  a  conqueror.  Nine  wives, 
whom  he  divorced  with  very  little  ceremony,  attest  the 
license  of  his  private  life,  which  his  temperance  and  frugaUty 
can  hardly  be  said  to  redeem.  Unsparing  of  blood,  though 
not  constitutionally  cruel,  and  wholly  indifferent  to  the  means 
which  his  ambition  prescribed,  he  beheaded  in  one  day  four 
thousand  Saxons  —  an  act  of  atrocious  butchery,  after  which 
his  persecuting  edicts,  pi-onouncing  the  pain  of  death  against 
those  who  refused  baptism,  or  even  who  ate  flesh  during 
Lent,  seem  scarcely  worthy  of  notice.  This  union  of  bar- 
barous ferocity  with  elevated  views  of  national  improvement 
might  suggest  the  parallel  of  Peter  the  Great.  But  the 
degrading  habits  and  brute  violence  of  the  Muscovite  place 
him  at  an  immense  distance  from  the  restorer  of  the  empire. 

A  strong  sympathy  for  intellectual  excellence  was  the 
leading  characteristic  of  Charlemagne,  and  this  undoubtedly 
biassed  him  in  the  chief  political  error  of  his  conduct  —  that 
of  encouraging  the  power  and  pretensions  of  the  hierarchy. 
But,  perhaps,  his  greatest  eulogy  is  written  in  the  disgraces 
of  succeeding  times  and  the  miseries  of  Europe.  He  stands 
alone,  like  a  beacon  upon  a  waste,  or  a  rock  in  the  broad 

1  Eginhard  attests  his  ready  eloquence,        -  See  an  essay  upon  this  project  in  the 

his  perfect  mastery  of  Latin,  his  knowl-  Memoirs  of  the  Academy  of  Inscriptions, 

edge  of  Greek  so  far  as  to   read  it,  liis  t.  xviii.    The  rivers  which  were  designed 

acquisitions  in  logic,  grammar,  rhetoric,  to  form  the  links  of  this  junction  were 

and    astronomy.     But    the    anonymous  the  Altmuhl,  the  Regnitz,  and  the  Main  ; 

authors  of  the  life  of  Louis  the  Debonair  but  their  want  of  depth,  and  the  spongi- 

attributes  most  of  these  accomplisliments  ness  of  the  soil,  appear  to  present  insu- 

to  that  unfortunate  prince.  perable  impediments  to  its  completion. 


Fr^vnce. 


LOUIS  TUE  DEBONAIR. 


27 


ocean.  His  sceptre  was  the  bow  of  Ulysses,  which  could  not 
be  drawn  by  any  weaker  hand.  In  the  dark  ages  of  Eiuoitcan 
history  tlie  reign  of  Chiu'leniagne  alfords  a  sohtary  resting- 
place  between  two  long  periods  of  tui'bnlence  and  igno- 
miny, deriving  the  advantiiges  of  conti'tvst  both  from  that  of 
the  preceding  dynasty  and  of  a  posterity  for  whom  he  had 
tornu'd  an  empire  wliich  they  were  unworthy  and  unecjual  to 
maintain.^ 

Pepin,  the  eldest  son  of  Charlemagne,  died  before  him, 
leaving    a    natural    son,   named    Bernard."     Even  j^^j^  ^^^^ 
if  he  had  been  legitimate,  the  right  of  representa-  Debonair, 
tion  was  not  at  all  established  during  these  ages  ;  ^'^' 
indeed,  the  genei-al  prejudice  seems  to  have  inclined  against 
it.     Bernard,  therefore,  kept  only  the  kingdom  of  Italy,  which 
had  been  transferred  to  his  father ;  while  Louis,  the  younger 
son  of  Cliarlemagne,  inherited  the  empire.^     But,  in  a  short 
tune,  Bernard,  having  attempted  a  rebellion  against 
his  uncle,  wiis  sentenced  to  lose  his  eyes,  which 
occasioned  his  death  —  a  cruelty  more  agi'eeable  to  the  pre- 
vailing tone  of  manners  than  to  the  character  of  Louis,  who 
bitterly  reproached  himself  for  the  severity  he  had  been  per- 
suaded to  use. 

Under  this  prince,  called  by  the  Italians  the  Pious,  and 
by  the   French   the  Debonair,  or  Good-natured,*  the  mighty 


1  The  Life  of  Charlema^e,  by  Gaillard, 
without  U-ing  made  perhaps  so  interest- 
ing as  it  ought  to  liiiTi-  been,  presents  an 
adequate  view  t)Ofli  of  his  actions  and 
cliarat'ter.  Schmidt,  Ilist.  des  Alleniands, 
tome  ii.,  appi-an*  to  me  a  superior  writer. 

An  exception  to  the  general  suffrage 
of  historians  in  favor  of  Charlemagne  is 
made  by  Si«mondi.  He  seems  to  consider 
him  as  having  produced  no  permanent 
ciri.-ct:  the  empire,  within  half  a  century, 
liaving  been  dismembered,  and  relapsing 
Into  the  merest  weakness  :  —  "  Tellement 
hi  grandeur  ac(|ui«c  jiar  les  armes  est 
trompeus*-,  quaud  elle  ne  se  donne  pour 
appui  aucuiie  institution  bienfaisant^;;  et 
tellement  |e  regne  d'un  gnind  roi  denieurc 
sterile,  qunnd  il  ne  fouile  pas  la  lllx-rtu 
de  svs  concitoyens."  (Vol.  iii.  p.  97.) 
But  cert»liily  some  of  Charlemagne's  in- 
ftitutinnn  Were  likely  to  prove  bcneflcial 
If  they  couM  huTi!  been  maintained.  Huch 
as  the  .Hciibiid  and  the  MisMI  Itoniinici. 
And  when  .Sismondi  hint'*  that  Charlo- 
ningne  ought  to  have  given  a  rhartt  nm- 
siirmionnrlU,  It  is  difflcult  not  to  smile  at 
iuch  a  proof  of  IiIh  hicliiiiition  to  Judge 
post  tline*  by  a  ituudurd  borrowed  from 


the  theories  of  his  own.  M.  Guizot  asks 
whether  the  nation  was  left  in  the  same 
state  in  which  the  emperor  found  it. 
Nothing  fell  with  him,  he  remarks,  but 
the  central  government,  which  could  f>nly 
have  been  preserved  by  a  series  of  uien 
like  himself.  (E.ssais  sur  Tllist.  de 
France,  pp.  276-294;  Hist,  de  la  Civilisa- 
tion en  France,  Le^jon  ii.  p.  39.)  Some, 
indeed,  of  his  institutions  cannot  be  said 
to  have  long  survived  him ;  but  this 
again  must  be  chiefly  attributeil  to  the 
weakness  of  his  successors.  No  one  man 
of  more  than  common  ability  aros<>  in 
the  Carlovingian  dyn.'isty  after  hinnelf, 
a  dct  very  di.'<advantiigeous  to  the  per- 
manence of  his  policy,  and  perhaps  nitlier 
surprising:  though  it  is  a  theory  of  Si.*- 
nionrli  that  royal  Ciniilies  naturally  dwin- 
dle into  imbecility,  especially  in  u  scml- 
barbarous  condition  of  so<iety. 

-  A  contemporary  autlmr,  Thegan,  np. 
Muratori,  A.I>.  SKI,  a.>iserts  that  llirimril 
was  born  of  a  concubine.  I  do  Jiot  know 
why  modern  liistoriuus  represent  It  otlier- 
wis<?. 

3  I  Note  XT] 

*  I'hesu  names,  as  a  French  writer  ob- 


28  HIS  MISFORTUNES  AND  ERRORS.    Chap.  I.  Pakt  I. 

Structure  of  his  father's  power  began  rapidly  to  decay.  I  do 
not  know  that  Louis  deserves  so  much  contempt  as  he  has 
undergone ;  but  historians  have  m  general  more  indulgence 
for  splendid  crimes  than  for  the  weaknesses  of  virtue.  There 
was  no  defect  in  Louis's  understanding  or  courage ;  he  was 
accomplished  in  martial  exercises,  and  in  all  the  learning 
which  an  education,  excellent  for  that  age,  could  supply.  No 
one  was  ever  more  anxious  to  reform  the  abuses  of  adminis- 
tration ;  and  whoever  compares  his  capitularies  with  those  of 
Charlemagne  will  perceive  that,  as  a  legislator,  he  was  even 
superior  to  his  father.  The  fault  lay  entirely  in  his  heart ; 
and  this  fault  was  nothing  but  a  temper  too  soft  and  a  con- 
science too  strict.-'  It  is  not  wonderful  that  the  empire  should 
have  been  speedily  dissolved ;  a  succession  of  such  men  as 
Charles  Martel,  Pepin,  and  Charlemagne,  could  alone  have 
preserved  its  integrity ;  but  the  misfortunes  of  Louis  and  his 
people  were  immediately  owing  to  the  following  errors  of  his 
conduct. 

Soon  after  his  accession  Louis  thought  fit  to  associate  his 
„.     .  „         eldest  son,  Lothaire,  to  the  empire,  and  to  confer 

His  misfor-  . '  ^  .  i      »        •     • 

tunes  aua  the  provmccs  ot  Lavaria  and  Aquitame,  as  sub- 
errors,  ordinate  kingdoms,  upon  the  two  younger,  Louis 
and  Pepin.  The  step  was,  in  appearance,  conform- 
able to  his  father's  policy,  who  had  acted  towards  liimself  in 
a  similar  manner.  But  such  measures  are  not  subject  to 
general  rules,  and  exact  a  careful  regard  to  characters  and 
circumstances.  The  principle,  however,  which  regulated  this 
division  was  learned  from  Charlemagne,  and  could  alone,  if 
strictly  pursued,  have  given  unity  and  permanence  to  the  em- 
pire. The  elder  brother  was  to  preserve  his  superiority  over 
the  others,  so  that  they  should  neither  make  peace  nor  war, 
nor  even  give  answer  to  ambassadors,  without  his  consent. 
Upon  the  death  of  either  no  further  partition  was  to  be  made  ; 
but  whichever  of  liis  children  might  become  the  popular 
choice  was  to  inherit  the  whole  kingdom,  under  the  same  su- 

serves,  meant  the  same  thing.     PiHihad,  l  Schmidt,  Hist,  des  AUemands,   torn, 

even  ia  good  Latiu,  the  sense  of  mitis,  ii.,  has  done   more  justice   tlian    otlier 

meek,   forbeariug,  or   what   the   I'rench  historians   to   Louis's   cliaraeter.      Vais- 

call    dcboiinaire.      Synonymes    de   Kou-  sette  attests  the  goodness  of  liis  govera- 

band,  torn.  i.  p.  257.     Our  EngUsh  word  ment  iu  Aquitaine,  which  he  held  as  a 

debonair  is    hardly   used    iu   the  same  subordinate  liingdom  during  his  father's 

sense,  if  iadeeil  it  can   be  called  an  Eiig-  life.     It  extended  from  the  Loire  to  the 

lish  word;  but  I  have  not  altered  Lou-  Ebro,   so  that   the  trust    was   uot   con- 

is's  appellation,  by  which  he  is  so  well  teuiptible.  —  Hist,  de  Languedoc,  torn.  i. 

known.  p.  476. 


Fkance.  PAKTITK^N   OF   THE   EMriRE.  29 

periority  of  tlie  head  of  the  family.^  This  compact  was,  from 
tlie bc'irinninir. disliked  by  the  younger  brothers;  and  an  event, 
upon  which  Louis  does  not  seem  to  have  calculated,  soon  dis- 
gusted his  colleague  Lothaire.  Judith  of  Bavariix,  the  emper- 
or's second  wife,  an  ambitious  woman,  bore  him  a  son,  by 
name  diaries,  whom  both  parents  were  naturally  anxious  to 
l)lace  on  an  equal  footing  with  his  brothers.  But  tliis  could 
only  be  done  at  the  expense  of  Lothaire,  who  was  ill  disposed 
to  see  his  empire  still  further  dismembered  for  this  child  of  a 
second  bed.  Louis  passed  his  life  in  a  struirgle  with  three 
undutiful  sons,  who  abused  his  paternal  kindness  by  constant 
rebellions. 

Tiiese  were  rendered  more  formidable  by  the  concuiTence 
of  a  ditierent  class  of  enemies,  w  horn  it  had  been  another  er- 
ror of  the  emperor  to  provoke.     Charlemagne  had  assumed  a 
thorough  control  and  supremacv  over  the  clergy ;  and  his  son 
was  perhaps  still  more  vigilant  in  chastising  their  irregulari- 
ties, and  reforming  their  rules   of  discipline.     But   to  this, 
which  they  had  been  compelled  to  bear  at  the  hands  of  the 
first,  it  was  not  equally  easy  for  the  second    to  obtain  their 
submission.     Louis   therefore  drew  on  himself  the  inveterate 
enmity  of  men  who  united  with  the  turbulence  of  martial  no- 
bles a  skill  in  managing  those  engines  of  offence  which  were 
peculiar  to  their  order,  and  to  which  the  imjilicit  devotion  of 
his  character  laid  him  very  open.      Yet,  after  many  vicissi- 
tudes of  fortune,  and  many  days  of  ignominy,  his   a.  j,  g4o. 
wishes    were    eventually   accomplished.      Charles,    partition  of 
his    youngest  son,   surnamed   the   Bald,  obtained,   t''«  empire 
upon  his  death,  most  part  of  France,  while   Ger-   ^■^■^^'^ 
many  fell  to  the  share  of  Louis,  :ind  the  rest  of    b^"sons 
the  imperial  dominions,  with  the  title,  to  the  eldest,    i'"tii«ire. 
Lothaire.     This  partition  was  the  result  of  a  san-   charurthe 
guinary.  though  short,  contest ;  and  it  gave  a  fatal   ^''''^• 
blow  to  the  empire  of  the  Franks.     For  the  tn-aty  of  Ver- 
dun, in  843,  abrogated  the  sovereignty  that  had  been  attached 
to  the  eldest  brother  and  to  the  imperial  name  in  former  par- 
titions :  each  held  his  respective  kingdom  as  an  iiidepen<lent 
right.'^     This  is  the  epoch  of  a  final  separation  between  the 

1  nnliirii  Ciipltiilnrin,  torn.  \.  p.  575.  tho  Rilliooquoiit  rnn'Iiirt  of  tliP  brofliPM 

2Balii!!li    Cnpitulnri/i,    torn.    il.    p.  42  ;  nml  tlidr  family  jiihtilli-s  tin' 1-oiii.triirtlou 

Vclly,  tonic  li.,  p.  '',.     Tlie  expr>-."iions  of  Vclly,  wlilcli  1  Imve  followed. 

of  tiiin  treaty  arc  pi-rliapii  c  luivucal ;  but 


30 


ITS  DISMEMBER5IENT. 


Chap.  I.  Pakt  I. 


French  and  German  members  of  the  empire.     Its  millenary 
was  celebrated  by  some  of  the  latter  nation  in  1843.^ 

The  subsequent  partitions  made  among  the  children  of 
these  brothers  are  of  too  rapid  succession  to  be 
here  related.  In  about  forty  years  the  empire  was 
nearly  reunited  under  Charles  the  Fat,  son  of 
Louis  of  Germany ;  but  his  short  and  inglorious 
reign  ended  in  his  deposition.  From  this  time  the 
possession  of  Italy  was  contested  among  her  na- 
tive princes  ;  Germany  fell  at  first  to  an  illegitimate 
descendant  of  Charlemagne,  and  in  a  short  time 
was  entirely  lost  by  his  family  ;  two  kingdoms,  af- 
terwai'ds  united,  were  formed  by  usurpers  out  of 
what  was  then  called  Burgundy,  and  comprised  the  provmces 
between  the  Rhone  and  the  Alps,  with  Franche  Comt^,  and 
great  part  of  Switzerland.^  In  France  the  Carlovingian 
kings  continued  for  another  century ;  but  their  line  was  inter- 
rupted two  or  three  times  by  the  election  or  usur- 
pation of  a  powerful  family,  the  counts  of  Paris 
and  Orleans,  who  ended,  like  the  old  mayors  of 
the  palace,  in  dispersing  the  phantoms  of  royalty 
they  had  professed   to  serve.^     Hugh  Capet,  the 


Decline  of 
the  Carlo- 
■vingian 
family. 
Charles  the 
Fat,  em- 
peror, 881. 
Kiug  of 
Frauce,  885. 
Deposed, 
887. 

Dismember- 
ment of  the 
empire. 


Kings  of 
France. 
Eudes,  887. 
Charles  the 
Simple,  898, 
Kobert? 
922. 


iThe  partition,  which  the  treaty  of 
Verdun  confirmed,  had  been  made  by 
commissioners  specially  appointed  in  the 
preceding  year.  "  Le  nombre  total  des 
commissaires  fut  porte  i  trois  cents ;  ils 
se  distribuerent  toute  la  surface  de  Tem- 
pire,  qu'ils  s'en^agerent  4  parcourir  avant 
le  mois  d'  aout  de  I'annee  suivante  :  cet 
immense  travail  etoit  en  effet  alors  neces- 
saire  pour  se  procurer  les  connoissances 
qu"on  obtientaujourd'hui  en  un  instant, 
par  linspection  d'une  carte  geograph- 
ique:  malheureusement  on  ferivoit  i 
cette  epoque  aussi  peu  qu'on  lisoit.  Le 
rapport  des  commissaires  ne  fut  point 
mis  par  ^crit,  ou  point  depose  dans  les 
archives.  S"il  nous  avoit  ete  conserve, 
ce  seroit  le  plus  curieux  de  tous  les  mon- 
umens  sur  I'etat  de  I'Europe  au  moyen 
age."  (Sismondi,  Hist,  des  Fran^;.  iii.  76.) 
For  this  he  quotes  Nithard,  a  contem- 
porary historian. 

In  the  division  made  on  this  occasion 
the  kingdom  of  France,  which  fell  to 
Charles  the  Bald,  had  for  its  eastern 
boundary,  the  Meuse,  the  Saone,  and  the 
Rhone  ;  which,  nevertheless,  can  only  be 
understood  of  the  Upper  Meuse,  since 
Brabant  was  certainly  not  comprised  in 
it.     liOthaire,  the  elder  brother,   besides 


Italy,  had  a  kingdom  called  Lorraine, 
from  his  name  (Lotharingia),  extending 
from  the  mouth  of  the  Khine  to  Provence, 
bounded  by  that  river  ou  one  frontier,  by 
France  on  the  other.  Louis  took  all  be- 
yond the  Rhine,  and  was  usually  styled 
The  Germanic. 

2  These  kingdoms  were  denominated 
Provence  and  Transjurane  Burgundy. 
The  latter  was  very  small,  comprising 
only  part  of  Switzerland;  but  its  second 
sovereign,  Rodolph  II..  acquired  by 
treaty  almost  the  whole  of  the  former ; 
and  the  two  united  were  called  the  king- 
dom of  Aries.  This  lasted  from  933  to 
1032,  when  Rodolph  III.  bequeathed  his 
dominions  to  the  emperor  Conrad  II. — 
Art  de  verifier  les  Dates,  tom.  ii.  p. 
427-432. 

3  The  family  of  Capet  is  generally  ad- 
mitted to  possess  the  most  ancient  pedi- 
gree of  any  sovereign  line  in  Europe.  Its 
succession  through  males  is  unequivo- 
cally deduced  from  Robert  the  Brave, 
made  governor  of  Anjou  in  864,  and 
father  of  Eudes  king  of  France,  and  of 
Robert,  who  was  chosen  by  a  party  in 
922,  though,  as  Charles  the  Simple  was 
still  acknowledged  in  some  provinces,  it 


France. 


STATE  OF  THE  PEOPLE. 


31 


representative  of  this  house    upon  the  death    of    Ralph.  923. 
Louis   v.,  plat't'd  himself  upon  tlie   throne;  thus   ija"'"^^' 


pon 
thii-d   ami  nio<t    pcrnianrnt   race  of    i-otiiaire, 
Before  this  liappened,  the  de-  Louis  v. 


founding  the 
French  sovereigns. 

scendants  of  Charlemagne  had  sunk  into  insignifi-   ^^j|;„tgoj. 
cance.  and  rttaincd  little  more  of  France  than  the   Paris, 
city  of  Laon.     The  rest  of  the  kingdom  had  been  seized  by 
the  |X)wei-ful  nobles,  who,  with  the  nominal  fidelity  of  the 
feudal  system,  maintained  its  practical  independence  and  re- 
bellious spirit.^ 

These  were  times  of  great  misery  to  the  people,  and  the 
worst,  perhaps,  that  Europe  has  ever  known.  Even  under 
Charlemagne,  we  have  abundant  proofs  of  the  ca-  st.ite  of  tiie 
lamities  which  the  people  suffered.  The  light  p*°p'^- 
which  shone  around  him  was  that  of  a  consuming  fire.  The 
free  proprietors  who  had  once  considered  themselves  as  only 
called  upon  to  resist  foreign  invasion,  were  harassed  by  end- 
less expeditions,  and  dragged  away  to  the  Baltic  Sea,  or  the 
banks  of  the  Drave.  Many  of  them,  as  we  learn  from  his 
Capitularies,  became  ecclesiastics  to  avoid  militiuy  conscrip- 
tion.'^ But  far  worse  must  have  been  their  state  under  the 
lax  government  of  succeeding  times,  when  the  dukes  and 
counts,  no  longer  checked  bv  the  vigorous  administration  of 
Charlemagne,  were  at  liberty  to  i)lay  the  tyrants  in  their  sev- 
eral territories,  of  which  they  now  became  almost  the  sover- 
eign-j.  The  poorer  landhoMers  accordingly  were  forced  to 
bow  their  necks  to  the  yoke ;  and,  either  by  compidsion  or 
through  hope  of  being  better  protected,  submitted  their  inde- 
pendent patrimonies  to  the  feudal  tenure. 


U  uncertain  whether  he  ought  to  be 
council  in  the  roynl  lifit  It  in,  niore- 
OTpr.  highly  prrjhahle  thnt  RolnTt  the 
Brave  wa«  ili-noemlpil,  e<iually  through 
males,  from  St.  Arnoul,  who  ilicil  in  040, 
an<l  cotiwiueiitly  nearly  ollicl  to  the 
Ciirlovlnpan  fkiiiily,  who  Jt-rire  their 
["•■litrri*  from  the  mime  head.  —  Sec 
I'nuveii  (ie  la  Oenealixfie  de  Hughes  Ca- 
[x-t.  in  I'Art  do  verifier  les  Dates,  torn.  i. 
p.  W, 

"(.Vote  XII.] 

At  the  cUxui  of  the  ninth  century  there 
were  twenty-nine  lien-<Jit/iry  fiefs  of  tlie 
rr»>wn.  At  the  iwcenKioii  of  Hugh  Cftjtet, 
in  '<)"'.  tlir-y  liad  iiirreawtl  to  fiay-live. 
(ifiii/>.t.  CiTili*  en  France,  L<c<;on  '24.) 
Tliierry  iiinintnins  tlmt  those  iM-twei-n 
the  Lrjire  and  the  Pyrenees  were  strictly 


independent  and  bound  by  no  feudal  tie. 
(Lettre.i  sur  I'Hist.  dc  France,  Lett,  IX.) 
-  Capitularia,  A.  D.  805.  Whoever  pos- 
sessed three  niansi  of  alodial  property 
was  called  upon  for  personal  scrvici',  or 
at  least  to  furnish  a  substitute.  Nindlus, 
author  of  a  poetical  Life  of  Loui.s  I., 
seems  to  implicate  Cliarlemaftne  himself 
in  some  of  tlie  oppri'ssidus  of  bis  rcijrn. 
It  Wiis  the  first  care  of  the  furiiicT  di  n.'- 
dress  those  who  had  been  injun-d  in  U\n 
fiither's  time.  —  Uecueil  des  Uistoriens, 
tome  vi.  N.Ii.  I  quote  by  this  title  the 
great  collection  of  French  historians, 
chart<'rs  and    other  diH-umenls  illnstni- 

tive  of  the  middli'  ages,  mori-  ( inii'iily 

known  by  the  name  of  it"  flr'^t  idi'"r, 
the  Jk-nedictine  Houijui't.  Hut  us  mvihiI 
learned  men  of  tliat  order  were  ^u«•l•»• 


32  THE  SAEACENS.  Chap.  I.  Part  I. 

But  evils  still  more  terrible  than  these  political  abuses 
were  the  lot  of  those  nations  who  had  been  subject  to  Charle- 
magne. They,  indeed,  may  appear  to  us  little  better  than 
ferocious  barbarians ;  but  they  were  exposed  to  the  assaults 
of  tribes,  in  comjiarison  of  whom  they  must  be  deemed  humane 
and  polished.  Each  frontier  of  the  empire  had  to  dread  the 
attack  of  an   enemy.     The  coasts  of  Italy  were 

The  Saracens.  ,.         n,  ^  i     i_       i.i         o  i^     a  j?  • 

continually  alarmed  by  the  oaracens  or  Africa, 
who  possessed  themselves  of  Sicily  and  Sardinia,  and  became 
masters  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea.-'  Though  the  Greek 
dominions  in  the  south  of  Italy  were  chiefly  exposed 
to  them,  they  twice  insulted  and  ravaged  the  terri- 
tory of  Rome  ;  nor  was  there  any  security  even  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  the  maritime  Alps,  where,  early  in  the  tenth 
century,  they  settled  a  piratical  colony.^ 

Much  more  formidable  were  the  foes  by  whom  Germany 
The  was  assailed.     The  Sclavonians,  a  widely  extended 

Hungarians,  people,  wliose  language  is  still  spoken  upon  half 
the  surface  of  Europe,  had  occupied  the  countries  of  Bohemia, 
Poland,  and  Pannonia,^  on  the  eastern  confines  of  the  empire, 
and  from  the  time  of  Charlemagne  acknowledged  its  superi- 
ority. But  at  the  end  of  the  ninth  century,  a  Tartarian 
tribe,  the  Hungarians,  overspreading  that  country  which 
since  has  borne  their  name,  and  moving  forward  like  a  vast 
wave,  brought  a  dreadful  reverse  upon  Germany.  Their 
numbers  were  great,  their  ferocity  untamed.  They  fought 
with  light  cavalry  and  light  armor,  trusting  to  their  showers 
of  arrows,  against  which  the  swords  and  lances  of  the  Euro- 
pean armies  could  not  avail.  The  memory  of  Attila  was 
renewed  in  the  devastations  of  these  savages,  who,  if  they 
were  not  his  compati'iots,  resembled  them  both  in  their  coun- 

sively  concerned  in  this  work,  not  one  IMonaco,  were  extirpated  by  a  count  of 

half  of  which  has  yet  been  published,  it  Provence  in  972.     But  they  had  estab- 

eeemed  better  to  follow  its  own  title-page,  lished  themselves  more  inland  than  Fras- 

1  These  African  Sarai^ens  belonged  to  sineto.    Creeping  up  the  line  of  the  Alps, 

the  Aglabites,  a  dynasty  that  reigned  at  they  took  possession  of  St.  Maurice,  in 

Tunis  for  the  whole  of  the  ninth  century,  the  Valais,  from  which  the  feeble  kings  of 

after  throwing  off  the  yoke  of  the  Abbas-  TransjuraneBurgundy  could  not  dislodge 

site    Khalifs.      They    were     overthrown  them. 

themselves  in  the  next  age  by  the  Fati-  3  I  am  sensible  of  the  awkward  effect 

mites.    Sicily  was  first  invaded  in  827  :  of  introducing  this  name  from   a  more 

but   the  city  of  Syracuse  was  only  re-  ancient  geography,  but  it  saves  a  circum- 

duced  in  878.  locution   still   more   awkward.     Austria 

-  Muratori,  Annali  d'ltalia,  ad.  ann.  would  convey  an  imperfect  idea,  and  the 

908,  et  alibi.     These  Sar.acens  of  Frassi-  Austrian  dominions  could  not  be  named 

neto,  supposed  to  be  between  Nice  and  without  a  tremendous  anachronism. 


Fr-V.nce.  Tire  nUNGAKIANS.  33 

tenance>  and  customs.     All  Italy,  all  Germany,  and  the  south 
of    Franco    felt    this    scourge;^    till    Henry    the        (o,q. 
Fowler,  and  Otho  the  Great,  tU'ove  them  back  by 
successive  victories  within  their  o\vn  limits,  where,  in  a  short 
time,  tliey   learned  peaceful   arts,  adopted  the  religion   and 
followed  the  policy  of  Christendom. 

If  any  enemies  could  be  more  destructive  than  these  Ilun- 
garimis,  they  were  the  pirates  of  the  north,  known  jij^ 
commonly  by  the  name  of  Normans.  The  love  of  Normans. 
a  predatory  life  seems  to  have  attracted  adventurers  of 
different  nations  to  the  Scandinavian  seas,  from  whence  they 
infested,  nut  only  l)y  maritime  piracy,  but  continual  invasions, 
the  northern  coasts  both  of  France  and  Germany.  The 
causes  of  their  sudden  appeai-ance  ai'e  inexphcable,  or  at 
least  could  only  be  sought  in  the  ancient  traditions  of  Scandi- 
navia. For,  undoubtedly,  the  coasts  of  France  and  England 
were  as  little  protected  from  depredations  under  the  Mero- 
vingian kings,  and  those  of  the  Heptarchy,  as  in  subsequent 
times.  Yet  only  one  instance  of  an  attack  from  this  side  is 
recorded,  and  that  before  the  middle  of  the  sixth  century,^  till 
the  age  of  Charlemagne.  In  787  the  Danes,  as  we  call  those 
northern  ]tlunderers,  began  to  infest  England,  w-hich  lay  most 
immediat<ly  open  to  their  mcursions.  Soon  afterwards  they 
rav:xge<l  the  coasts  of  France.  Ciiarlemagne  repulsed  them 
by  means  of  his  fleets ;  yet  they  pillaged  a  few  places  during 
his  reign.  It  is  said  that,  ])erceiving  one  day.  from  a  port  in 
the  ]Me<literranean,  some  Norman  vessels,  which  had  pene- 
trated into  that  sea,  he  shed  tears,  in  anticipation  of  the 
miseries  whicli  awaited  his  empire.*  In  Louis's  reign  their 
depredations  upon  the  coast  were  more  incessant,*  but  they 

1  In  924  they  overran  Languedoc.  2  Oreg.  Turon.  1.  iii.  c.  3. 
Rayniond-Poiin,  count  of  Toulouse,  cut  3  in  the  ninth  century  the  Norman 
their  army  to  pieces;  but  they  hiiU  pre-  pirates  not  only  ravaged  the  Balearic 
viously  committed  such  ravage!",  that  the  isles,  and  nearer" coasts  of  tlie  Mediterra- 
hi-h'ips  of  that  province.  Hritiiig  soon  neiin.  hut  even  Greece. —  Dc  Marea.  Mar- 
afterwards  to  I'ojM!  .lohn  X..  a.s.'^ert  tliat  ca  Ilispanira,  p.  32". 
scarcely  any  eniini-ut  eccUsdastles,  out  «  Nigellus,  tlie  poetical  biographer  of 
,r  ,  .r...r  numlxT.  were  left  alive.—  Louis,  gives  the  following  description  of 
!                    ingued'K-.  tome  li.  p.  fX).    They  the  Normans  :  — 

J                  I  into  liuienne,  as  late  as  951.  AW/    (|UO<|ue     Francisco    dicuntur    no- 

—  fii/'Joardi   t.'hronicon.  in    Kecuoil   deg  mine  vitiniii. 

HliU.ricns,  t^)mc  vlil.     In  Italy  they  In-  Veloces,  agiles.  armigerique  nirnl*  ; 

(pired  iU'h  terror  tliat  a  miu<s  waj  com-  Ipse  >)uidem  populug  late  peruotus  ha- 

\^j^A  exprwisly   depn-cating  this  calam-  betur, 

ity  :  Ab  L'ng;ir<irnm  no«  defendos  jaculis  1  Miitredapes  fjunrit,  incolitatiineinnro. 

Ill  'J.T  thi-y  niv»gi-d  the  country  as  Cir  I'ulcher  adest  Cwlc,  vultuijuu  statu. ju« 

u    UvneveiiUi   and   Capua.  —  .Murutori,  decorus.  —  1.  iv. 
Ann.  d'ltaUa. 

VOL.  I.  ;j 


34  THE  NORMANS.  Chap.  I.  Part  I. 

did  not  penetrate  into  the  inland  country  till  that  of  Charles 
the  Bald.  The  wars  between  that  prince  and  his  family, 
which  exhausted  France  of  her  noblest  blood,  the  insubordi- 
nation of  the  provincial  governors,  even  the  instigation  of 
some  of  Charles's  enemies,  laid  all  open  to  their  inroads. 
They  adopted  an  uniform  plan  of  warfare  both  in  France  and 
England ;  sailing  up  navigable  rivers  in  their  vessels  of 
small  burden,  and  fortifying  the  islands  which  they  occasion- 
ally found,  they  made  these  intrenchments  at  once  an  asylum 
for  their  women  and  children,  a  repository  for  their  plunder, 
and  a  place  of  retreat  from  superior  force.  After  pillaging  a 
town  they  reth-ed  to  these  sti'ongholds  or  to  their  ships  ;  and 
it  was  not  till  872  that  they  ventured  to  keep  possession  of 
Angei's,  which,  however,  they  were  compelled  to  evacuate. 
Sixteen  years  afterwards  they  laid  siege  to  Paris,  and  com- 
mitted the  most  ruinous  devastations  on  the  neighboring 
country.  As  these  Normans  were  unchecked  by  religious 
awe,  the  rich  monasteries,  which  had  stood  harmless  amidst 
the  havoc  of  Christian  war,  were  overwhelmed  in  the  storm. 
Perhaps  they  may  have  endured  some  irrecoverable  losses  of 
ancient  learning ;  but  their  complaints  are  of  monuments 
disfigui'ed,  bones  of  saints  and  kings  dispersed,  treasures 
carried  away.  St.  Denis  redeemed  its  abbot  from  captivity 
with  six  hundred  and  eighty-five  pounds  of  gold.  All  the 
chief  abbeys  were  stripped  about  the  same  time,  either  by  the 
enemy,  or  for  contributions  to  the  public  necessity.  So 
impoverished  was  the  kmgdom,  that  in  860  Charles  the  Bald 
had  great  difficulty  in  collecting  three  thousand  pounds  of 
silver  to  subsidize  a  body  of  Normans  against  their  country- 
men. The  kings  of  France,  too  feeble  to  prevent  or  repel 
these  invaders,  had  recourse  to  the  palliative  of  buying  peace 
at  their  hands,  or  rather  precarious  armistices,  to  which 
reviving  thirst  of  plunder  soon  put  an  end.  At  length 
Charles  the  Simple,  in  918,  ceded  a  great  province,  which 
they  had  already  partly  occupied,  partly  rendered  desolate, 
and  which  has  derived  from  them  the  name  of  Normandy. 
Ignominious  as  this  appears,  it  proved  no  impolitic  step. 
Rollo,  the  Norman  chief,  with  all  his  subjects,  became 
Christians  and   Frenchmen ;  and  the  kingdom  was  at  once 


He  goes  on   to  tell  us  that  they  wor-    of  name,  or  of  attributes,  that  deceived 
shipped  Neptune  —  Was   it  a  similarity    him? 


Fkaxoe.  ACCESSIOX  OF  Tirr.H  CAPET.  .i.j 

relifvoil  from  a  torrihle  enemy,  and  strengtheneil  hv  a  raoe 
of  liardy  coloni-Jts.^ 

TIk'  accession  of  llu;2;li  Capet  liad  not  the  iinincdiate  etfeet 
of  restorinjr  the  ro\-al  authority  over  France.     His  . 

^  .   •'  ,  -  Acepssion  of 

own  very  extensive  net  wa-s  now,  nideed,  united  to  iiunii  capot. 
tlie  cro«ni  ;  hut  a  few  <rroat  vassals  occupied  the  ■^■''^'''" 
remainder  of  the   kiiiirddin.      Six  of  these  ohtaiued,  at  a  sub- 
sequent time,  the  exclusive  appellation  of  peers  of  France. — 
the  count  of  Flanders,  whose  tief  stretched  from    o.  .    c 

I        o    I     1  1  1  •  >   /  1  state  of 

tlie  bclieldt  to  the  bomme  ;  the  count  ot  Cham-  France  at 
pagne  ;  the  duke  of  Normandy,  to  whom  Britany  ^^"^  "^*- 
<lid  homage  ;  the  duke  of  Burgundy,  on  whom  the  count  of 
Xivernois  seems  to  have  depended  ;  the  duke  of  Aquitaiiic, 
wliose  territory,  though  less  than  the  ancient  kingdom  of  tliat 
name,  comprehended  Poitou.  Limousin,  and  most  of  Guienne, 
with  the  feu<lal  superiority  over  the  Angoumois.  and  some 
other  central  districts  ;  and  lastly  the  count  of  Toulouse,  who 
possessed  Languedoc,  with  the  small  countries  of  Quercy  and 
Rjuergue,  and  tlie  superiority  over  Auvergne."^  Besides 
these  six,  the  duke  of  Gascony,  not  long  afterwards  united 
with  Aquitaine,  the  counts  of  Anjou,  Pontliieu,  and  Yerman- 
dois.  the  viscoimt  of  Bourges,  the  lords  of  Bour1)on  and 
Coucy.  with  (ineor  two  otlier  vassals,  h<'ld  innnediutely  of  the 
ia-t  Carlo\  ingian  kings.*  This  was  the  aristocracy,  of  which 
Hugh  Capet  usurped  the  direction  ;  for  the  suffrage  of  no 
general  a--emlily  gave  a  sanction  to  his  title.  On  tlie  death 
of  Louis  V.  he  took  advant^ige  of  the  al)sence  of  Ciiarles.  duke 
of  Lorraine,  who,  as  the  deceased  king's  uncle,  was  nearest 
heir,  and  procured  his  own  consecration  at  llheims.  At  first 
he  was  by  no  moans  acknowledged  in  the  kingdom  ;  hut  his 
contest  witii  Charles  proving  successful,  tlie  chief  vassals 
ultimately  gave  at  least  a  tacit  consent  to  the  usurpation,  and 
permitted  the  royal  name  to  descend  undisputed  upon  his 
posterity.*     But  tiiis  was  almost  the  sole  attribute  of  sover- 

>  An  exroodinKly  gooft  fketoh  of  thew  then  (jot   possession  of  it;  Jmt  early  in 

Nomian  iiirur^i'>ni.  an.!  of  tin-  pulitical  the  twclfUi   century   tlie  o.innt'<  iii'Aii- 

eituution  of  France  itiirini;  tlint  period,  verKnc  apiin  diii  lioniavre  to  (luienne.      It 

iniiy    »)e    found   in    two   MenioirH   by  M.  in  very  ilinicult  to  follow  the  liintory  of 

Ilonnmy.   M''in.  de   l'Acn<l.  d».«   Inscript.  these  flef't. 

ti'iiie<  XV.  and  xvil.     Theoe  I  hnvechlctiy  8  'n,,,  iniinrrliaei/  of  vassnln  in  tinien  so 

f".;'nied  in  the  text.     (NoTR  XIII.]  ancient  is  open  to  ninrdi  contrnversy.      I 

-  Auvi-rirneciianifr-d  its  fi'udiil  superior  liave  followed  the  iiiitliority  of  tlin.ie  in- 

twice.     It  had  1i<-<mi  siilijeet  to  the  duke  ilustriou.s     llenediclines,    tlie   editors    of 

of  A'luitalne  till  ahout  tlie  niidille  of  the  I/Art  de  verifier  les  I).it4'S. 

tenth  i-entury.     The  countit  of  Toulouse  *  The  south  of  Franco   not  only  toolc 


36  STATE  OF  FRANCE  AT  THAT  TDIE.     Chap.  I.  Part  I. 

eignty  which  the  first  kings  of  the  third  dynasty  enjoyed. 
For  a  long  period  before  and  after  the  accession  of  that  family 
France  has,  properly  speaking,  no  national  history.  The 
character  or  fortune  of  those  who  were  called  its  kings  were 
httle  more  important  to  the  majority  of  the  nation  than  those 
of  foreign  princes.  Undoubtedly,  the  degree  of  influence 
Robert.  whicli  they  exercised  with  respect  to  the  vassals 

A.D.  996.  of  the  crown  varied  accoi'ding  to  their  power  and 
their  proximity.  Over  Guienne  and  Toulouse  the  first  four 
Capets  had  very  little  authority ;  nor  do  they  seem  to  have 
Henry  I.  ever  received  assistance  from  them  either  in  civil 
Philip^i^'  ^^  national  wars.^  With  provinces  nearer  to  their 
A.D.  1060.  own  domains,  such  as  Normandy  and  Flanders, 
they  were  frequently  engaged  in  alliance  or  hostility  ;  but 
each  seemed  rather  to  proceed  from  the  policy  of  independent 
states  than  from  the  relation  of  a  sovereign  towards  his 
subjects.^ 

It  should  be  remembered  that,  when  the  fiefs  of  Paris  and 
Orleans  are  said  to  have  been  reunited  by  Hugh  Capet  to 
the  crown,  little  more  is  understood  than  the  feudal  superi- 
ority over  the  vassals  of  these  provinces.  As  the  kingdom 
of  Charlemagne's  posterity  was  split  into  a  number  of  great 
fiefs,  so   each  of  these    contained   many  barons,   possessing 

no  part  in  Hugh's  elevation,  but  long  of  Gulielmus  Pictaviensis  be  considered 

refused   to  pay   him   any  obedience,  or  as  matter  of  fact,  and  not  rather  as  a 

rather  to  acknowledge  his  title,  for  obe-  rhetorical  flourish.     He  tells  us  that  a 

dience  was  wholly  out  of  the  question,  vast   army   was   collected    by   Henry   I. 

The  style  of  charters  ran,  instead  of  the  against  tlie   duke  of  Normandy  :     JJur- 

king's  name,  Deo  regnatite,  rege   ezpec-  gundium,  Arverniam,  atque  Vasconiam 

taiite.  or  abseyite  rege  terreiio.     He  forced  properare  videres  horribiles  ferro  ;  immo 

Guienne  to  submit  about  990.     But  in  vires   tanti   regni    quantum    in   climata 

Limousin  they  continued  to  acknowledge  quatuor  niuudi  patent  cunctas. — Recueil 

the  sons  of  Charles  of  Lorraine  till  1009.  des  Historiens,  t.  si.  p.  83.    But  we  have 

—  Vaissette,  Hist,  de  Lang.  t.  ii.  p.  120,  the  roll  of  the  army  which  Louis  VI.  led 

1.50.     Before  this  Toulouse  had  refused  against  the  emperor  Henry  V.,  a. D.  1120, 

to  recognize  Eudes  and  Raoul,  two  kings  in  a  national   war:  and  it  was  entirely 

of  France  who  were  not  of  the  Carlovin-  composed  of  troops  from  Champagne,  the 

gian   famUy,  and  even   hesitated  about  Isle  of  France,  the  Orleannois,  and  otlier 

Louis   IV.    and  Lothaire,   who    had  an  provinces   north  of  the   Loire.  —  Velly, 

hereditary  right.  —  Ii/ejn.  t.  iii.  p.  62.     Yet  this  was  a  sort  of  con- 

These  proofs  of  Hugh  Capet's  usurpa-  vocation  of  the  ban ;  Rex  ut  eum  tota 
tion  seem  not  to  be  materially  invaUdated  Francia  sequatur,  invitat.  Even  so  late 
by  a  dissertation  in  the  50th  volume  of  as  the  reign  of  Philip  Augustus,  in  a 
the  Academy  of  Inscriptions,  p.  553.  It  list  of  the  knights  bannerets  of  France, 
is  not  of  course  to  be  denied  that  the  though  those  of  Britany,  Flanders. Cham- 
northern  parts  of  France  acquiesced  in  pagne,  and  Burgundy,  besides  the  royal 
his  assumption  of  the  royal  title,  if  they  domains,  are  enumerated,  no  mention  is 
did  not  give  an  express  consent  to  it.  made  of  the  provinces  beyond  the  Loire. 

1  I  have  not  found  ,any  authority  for  — Du  Chesne,  Script.  Rerum  Gallicarum, 

supposing  that  the  provinces  south  of  the  t.  v.  p.  262. 

Loire  contributed  their  assistance  to  the  -  [Note  XIV.] 
king  in  war,  unless  the  following  passage 


Fk-vxce.  LOUIS  VI.  37 

exclusive  immunities  within  their  own  territories,  Avaginj; 
war  at  their  pleasure,  administerhiii  Justiee  to  tlieir  inililary 
tenants  and  other  subjects,  and  tree  i'rum  all  control  beyond 
the  conditions  of  the  feudal  compact.^  At  the  Louis  vi. 
accession  of  Louis  VI.  in  1108,  the  cities  of  Paris,  a"-  "OS. 
Orleans,  and  liourjres,  with  the  immediately  adjacent  districts, 
turmed  the  mo.-t  considerable  portion  of  the  royal  domain.  A 
number  of  petty  bm'ous,  with  their  fortified  castles,  inter- 
cepted the  communication  between  these,  and  waged  war 
against  the  king  almost  under  the  walls  of  his  capital.  It  cost 
Louis  a  great  deal  of  trouble  to  reduce  the  lords  of  ]Montlhery, 
and  other  places  within  a  few  miles  of  Paris.  LTnder  this 
prince,  however,  who  had  more  activity  than  his  predecessors, 
the  royal  authority  considerably  revived.  From  his  reign 
we  may  date  the  systematic  rivalry  of  the  French  and 
English  monarchies.  IIo>tilities  had  several  times  occurred 
between  Philip  L  and  the  two  Williams  ;  but  the  wars  that 
beg-an  under  Louis  VI.  lasted,  with  no  long  interruption,  for 
tin-ee  ctMituries  and  a  half,  and  form,  inth'ed.  the  most  leading 
feature  of  French  history  during  the  middle  ages.-  Of  all 
the  royal  vassals,  the  dukes  of  Normandy  were  the  proudest 
and  most  powerful.  Tiiough  they  had  submitted  to  do 
homage,  they  could  not  forget  that  they  came  in  originally  by 
force,  and  that  in  real  strengtii  they  were  fully  equal  to  their 
sovereign.  N(jr  had  the  conquest  of  England  any  tendency  to 
diminish  their  pretensions.* 

L(iiii~  VII.  a^eended  the  throne  with  better  prospects  than 

t  In  .1  fub^oqiient  cliaptor  I  shall  illus-  be  undcrstooU  of  course   that  these  Ji- 

trate  at  iiiuc-h  i^rc'iitiT  k'n;jth  the  circum-  Tisions   are    not    rij;orousIy   exact;  ami 

Ftince;!   of   the    French   monarchy  with  also  that,  in  every  instance,  owners  ot 

ri-'iKct  to  its  feii^Lil  vassals.    It  would  be  fiefs  with  civil  and  criminal  jurisdiction 

iiicMnvenient  to  anticipate  the  subject  at  had  the  full  possession  of  their  own  terri- 

pr.viit,  which  is  rather  of  a  legal  than  torie.s,  suliject   more  or  less  to  their  im- 

ii.irritive  character.  mediate  lord,  whether  it  were  the  kin;.'  or 

t^b-nionili  has  (riten  »  relaflvo  scale  of  another.     The  real  domain  of  Louis  VI. 

the  t?ri-.it  fle&.  accordini?  Ut  the  numlK>r  was  almost  confined  to  the  live  towns  — 

of  modern  departments  whii-h  they  con-  Paris,    Orleans,    E.stampes,    .Melun,    and 

t.-iin>-d.    At  the  accession  of  lyouis  VI.  the  ('ompi<'Hne   (id.   p.   8lj);  and    to    estates. 

crown  pos-ess,.il  abiMit  five  departments;  probably  larp",  in  their  neighborhood, 

the   count   of  Klaii  lers    held   four:  the  -  Vc-Uy,  t.  iii.  ]>.  111. 

cunt  of  Vermaiiil'iis,  two  ;  the  count  of  ^  The  Norman  historians  maintain  that 

r.    ii-/no.  one:  thecount  of  Champagne,  their  dukes  did  not  owe  any  service  to 

si\;   the  duke  of  liurKundy,   three;  of  the  kini;  of  France,  hut  only  simple  liom- 

N'.nnandy,    five;  of    Uritany.    five;  the  a(,'e,  or,  as  it  was  called,  jier  paracinm. 

c<.ii!it  of  Anjoii.  thn-e.     Thirty-three  de-  —  lU«;ueil  de»  llistorii-ns,  t.  .\i.  iutI'.  p- 

,                              .  ..f  the  I/,ire  he  considers  Ml.      They    certiiinly    acted     upi>n     this 

'■•d  with  the  crown  ;  and  priTiclpli- ;  and  the  manner  in  which  tliey 

l«.i,t> -.1.- at  that  time  dei>endent  first  came  into  the  country   is   i.-i    very 

on  tla-  cDJpire.     (Vol,  r.  p.  7.)    It  Is  to  cuusUteut  with  dependence. 


38  PHILIP  AUGUSTUS.  Chap.  I.  Part  I. 

Louis  VII.  liis  father.  He  had  married  Eleanor,  heiress  of 
A.D.  1137.  ([^Q  great  duchy  of  Guieniie.  But  this  union, 
which  promised  an  immense  accession  of  strength  to  the 
crown,  was  rendered  unhappy  by  the  levities  of  that  princess. 
Repudiated  by  Louis,  who  felt  rather  as  a  husband  than  a 
king,  Eleanor  immediately  married  Henry  II.  of  England, 
who,  already  inheriting  Normandy  from  his  mother  and 
Anjou  from  his  father,  became  possessed  of  more  than  one 
half  of  France,  and  an  overmatch  for  Louis,  even  if  the  great 
vassals  of  the  crown  had  been  always  ready  to  maintain  its 
supremacy.  One  might  venture,  perhaps,  to  conjecture  that 
the  sceptre  of  France  would  eventually  have  passed  from  the 
Capets  to  the  Plantagenets,  if  the  vexatious  quarrel  with 
Becket  at  one  time,  and  the  successive  rebellions  fomented  by 
Louis  at  a  later  period,  had  not  embarrassed  the  great  talents 
and  ambitious  spirit  of  Henry. 

But  the  scene  quite  changed  when  Philip  Augustus,  son  of 
Philip  Louis  VII.,  came  upon  the  stage.     No  prince  com- 

Augustus,  parable  to  him  in  systematic  ambition  and  military 
enterprise  had  reigned  in  France  since  Chaide- 
magne.  From  his  reign  the  French  monarchy  dates  the  recov- 
ery of  its  lustre.  He  wrested  from  the  count  of  Flanders  the 
Vermandois  (that  part  of  Picardy  which  borders  on  the  Isle 
of  France  and  Champagne  ^),  and  subsequently,  the  county  of 
Artois.  But  the  most  important  conquests  of  Philip  were 
obtained  against  the  kings  of  England.  Even  Richard  L,  with 
all  his  prowess,  lost  ground  in  struggling  against  an  adver- 
Conquest  of  ^^^'J  ^'^^  ^^^^  active,  and  more  politic,  than  himself. 
Normaufiy,  But  whcu  Jolui  uot  Only  took  possession  of  his 
brother's  dominions,  but  confirmed  his  usurpation 
by  the  murder,  as  was  very  probably  surmised,  of  the  heir, 
Philip,  artfully  taking  advantage  of  the  general  indignation, 
summoned  him  as  his  vassal  to  the  court  of  his  peers.  John 
demanded  a  safe-conduct.  Willingl}'^,  said  Philip  ;  let  him 
come  unmolested.  And  return  ?  inquired  the  English  envoy. 
If  the  judgment  of  his  peers  permit  him,  replied  the  king. 
By  all  the  saints  of  France,  he  exclaimed,  when  further 
pressed,  he  shall  not  return   unless  acquitted.     The  bishop 

1  Tlie  original  counts  of  Vermandois  the  earl  of  Flanders,  after  her  death  in 

were   descended  from  Bernard,  king  of  1183.     The   principal  towns  of  the  Ver- 

Italy,   grandson    of   Charlemagne  :    but  maudois  are  St.  Queutin  and  I'oroune.  — 

their  fief  passed  by  the  donation  of  Isa-  Art  de  verifier  les  Dates,  t.  ii.  p.  700. 
bel,  the  last  countess,  to  her  husband, 


Fraxce.  LOUIS  VIII.  i)".! 

of  Ely  still  remonstrated  that  the  duke  of  Normandy  could 
not  come  without  the  kinjr  of  Enjrland  ;  nor  would  the  harons 
of  that  euuniry  permit  tlieir  sovereign  to  run  the  ri.-k  of  tlcaih 
or  imprisonment.  What  of  that,  my  lord  bishop  ?  cried 
Philip.  It  is  well  known  that  my  vassal  the  duke  of  Xor- 
manily  aeiiuired  England  by  tbrce.  But  if  a  subject  obtains 
any  accession  of  dignity,  shall  his  ptu'amount  lord  therefore 
lose  his  rights  ?  * 

It  may  be  doubted  whether,  in  thus  citing  John  Itefore  his 
court,  the  king  of  France  did  not  stretch  his  lludal  sovereign- 
ty beyond  its  acknowledged  limits.  Arthur  was  certainly  no 
immediate  vassal  of  the  crown  for  Britaiiy :  and,  though  he 
had  done  homage  to  Philip  for  Anjou  and  Maine,  yet  a  sub- 
sequent treaty  had  abrogated  his  investiture,  and  confirmed 
his  uncle  in  the  i>ossession  of  those  provinces."'^  But  the 
vigor  of  Philip,  and  the  meanness  of  his  adversary,  cast  a 
shade  over  all  that  might  be  novel  or  irregular  in  these  pro- 
ceedings. John,  not  apjjcaring  at  his  summons,  was  declared 
guilty  of  felony,  and  his  fiefs  confiscated.  The  ex(>cution  of 
this  sentence  was  not  intrusted  to  a  dilatory  arm.  Philip 
l^oured  his  troops  into  Normandy,  and  took  town  after  town, 
while  the  king  of  England,  infatuated  by  his  ow^n  wickedness 
and  cowardice,  made  hardly  an  attempt  at  defence.  In  two 
years  Normandy,  Elaine,  and  Anjou  were  irrecoverably  lost. 
Poitou  and  Guienne  resisted  longer ;  but  the  con-  Louis  vin. 
quest  of  the  first  was  completed  by  Louis  VIII.,  ^-^^  ^^^ 
successor  of  IMiilij),  and  the  subjection  of  the  second  seemed 
drawing  near,  when  the  ai-ms  of  Louis  were  diverted  to  dif- 
ferent but  xarcidy  less  advantageous  objects. 

The  country  of  Languedoc,  subject  to  the  counts  of  Tou- 
louse, had  been  unconnected,  beyond  any  other  part  Affairs  of 
of  Fiance,  with  the  kings  of  the  house  of  Capet.  ^^e»^'<^<^- 
Louis  \'II.,  iiaving  married  his  sister  to  the  reigning  count, 
and  travelled  hinis(df  through  the  country,  began  to  exercise 
some  degree  of  authority,  chiefly  in  confirming  the  rights  of 
eccle.-ia-tieal  bodies,  who  were  vain,  perhaps,  of  this  addition- 
al sanction   to  the  privileges   which   they  already  jiosso-ed." 

1  M.it.  i'.in-.  I'   'i'^*,  cillt.  Iflflt.  trace  of  any  act  of  Rovcrci^rutv  cxiTt'lsoJ 

2  Till-  iUi-tf'ility  of  riiilip'n  pro<-<H>illnKii  by   the   kiiiif.i   of    Franco   in   'ljin;{iic<loc 

i»   »•■'    ■■" I    ''.V  Mtilily,   ObwrvutiouB  from   it.Vi.    when    Kolliairx    I'onflrnipil   a 

•  ur       '                I"  Kriinoi'.  1.  iii.  r.  tl.  rlmrk-r  of  liiH  i.n-deccs.'ior  Haoiil  in  favor 

■'   ^  :    '"    Hip    licueUictino    hU-     of  the;    liinlmii  of   I'liv,   till   llir  rt'lKll  of 

toriaiu,  Viob  and  Vaiuott«,  tbero  U)  no    LouU  VII.  (illDt.  di-  LunKUudoc,  tome  111. 


40  AFFAIRS  OF  LAXGUEDOC.      Chap.  I.  Part  I. 

But  the  remoteness  of  their  situation,  with  a  difference  in 
language  and  legal  usages,  still  kept  the  people  of  this  prov- 
ince apart  from  those  of  the  north  of  France. 

About  the  middle  of  the  twelfth  century,  certain  religious 
opinions,  which  it  is  not  easy,  nor,  for  our  present  purpose, 
material  to  define,  but,  upon  eveiy  supposition,  exceedingly 
adverse  to  those  of  the  church,^  began  to  spread  over  Langue- 
doc.  Those  who  imbibed  them  have  borne  the  name  of 
Albigeois,  though  they  were  in  no  degree  peculiar  to  the 
district  of  Albi.  In  despite  of  much  preaching  and  some 
persecution,  these  errors  made  a  continual  pi'ogress ;  till  In- 
nocent III.,  in  1198,  despatched  commissaries,  the  seed  of  the 
inquisition,  with  ample  powers  both  to  investigate  and  to 
chastise.  Raymond  VI.,  count  of  Toulouse,  whether  in- 
chned  towards  the  innovators,  as  was  then  the  theme  of 
reproach,  or,  as  is  more  probable,  disgusted  with  the  insolent 
interference  of  the  pope  and  his  missionaries,  provoked  them 
to  pronounce  a  sentence  of   excommunication  against  him. 

,„.„        Though  this  was  taken  off,  he  was  still  suspected ; 
A.D.  1208.  ,    °        ,  .       .      '  ,.  ,,  ,      .      ^.  . 

and  upon  the  assassmation  ot  one  ot  the  inquisitoi's, 

in  which  Raymond  had  no  concern.  Innocent  published  a  cru- 
sade both  against  the  count  and  his  subjects,  calling  upon  the 
king  of  France,  and  the  nobility  of  that  kingdom,  to  take  up 
the  cross,  with  all  the  indulgences  usually  held  out  as  allure- 
ments to  religious  warfai'e.  Though  Philip  would  not  inter- 
fere, a  .prodigious  number  of  knights  undertook  this  enterprise, 
led  partly  by  ecclesiastics,  and  partly  by  some  of  the  first 
barons  in  France.  It  was  prosecuted  with  every  atrocious 
barbarity  which  superstition,  the  mother  of  crimes,  could  in- 
spire. Languedoc,  a  country,  for  that  age,  flourishing  and 
civilized,  was  laid  waste  by  these  desolators ;  lier  cities 
burned ;  her  inhabitants  swept  away  by  fire  and  the  sword. 
And  this  was  to  punish  a  fanaticism  ten  thousand  times  more 
innocent  than  their  own,  and  errors  which,  according  to  the 


p.  88.)    They  have  published,  however,  scribing  witness  to  the  charters  of  the 

an  instrument  of  Louis  VI.  in  favor  of  first  Capetian  kings  in  the  Recueil  des 

the  same  church,   confirming  those  of  Historiens,   where  many  are  published, 

former    princes.      (Appendix,     p.    473.)  though  that  of   the   duke  of   Guienne 

Neither  the  counts  of  Toulouse,  nor  any  sometimes  occurs. 

lord  of  the  province,  were  present  in  a  i  For  the   real   tenets  of  the  Langue- 
very  numerous  national  as.sembly,  at  the  docian  sectaries  I  refer  to  the  last  chap- 
coronation  of  Philip  I.     (Id.  p.  200.)     I  ter  of  the  present  work,  where  the  subject 
do  not  recollect  to  have  ever  met  with  the  will  be  taken  up  again. 
name  of  the  count  of  Toulouse  as  a  sub- 


Fr.\.\ce.  the  ALBIGEOIS.  -11 

worst  inii)Utation«i,  left  the  laws  of  humanity  aiul  the  peace 
of  social  life  unimpaired.^ 

The  i-rusaders  were  commanded  by  Simon  de  Montfort,  a 
man,  like  Cromwell,  whose  intrepidity,  hypocrisy,   f.r„s„jp 
and  ambition,  marked  him  for  the  hero  of  a  holy  i>g»i>i<t  the 
wiu".     The  enerLry  of  such  a  mind,  at  the  head  of  *    '°'^""' 
an  army  of  enthusiastic  warriors,  may  well  account  for  suc- 
cesses which  then  appeared  miraculous.     But  Montfort  was 
cut  otl'  before  he  could  realize  his  ultimate  object,  an  inde- 
pendent principality  ;  and  Kaymond  was  able  to  bei[uealhe  the 
inheritiuice  of  his  ancestors  to  his  son.     Rome,  however,  was 
not  yet  appeased ;  upon  some   new  pretence  she         ^^^ 
raised  up  a  still  more  formidable  enemy  against  the 
younger  Raymond.     Louis  VIII.  suffered  himself  to  be  di- 
verted  from    the   conquest   of   Guienne,  to  take    the   cross 
against  the  su[>])osed  patron  of  heresy.      After  a  short   and 
successful  war,  Louis,  dying  prematurely,  left  the  crown  of 
France  to  a  son  only  twelve  years  old.     But  the  count  of 
Toulouse  was  still  pursued,  till,  hopeless  of  safety  in  so  un- 
equal a  struggle,  he  concluded  a  treaty  upon  very  j.„„ 
hard  terms.     By  this  he  ceded  the  greatel*  part  of     '  '  ""  ' 
Languedoc ;  and,  giving  his  daughter  in  marriage  to  Al])lion- 
so,  l)rother  of  Louis  IX.,  confirmed  to  tlu-m,  and  to  the  king 
in  failure   of   their   descendants,  the  reversion  of   the    rest, 
in  exclusion  of  any  other  children   Avliom  he  might   have. 
Tims  fell  the  ancient  house  of  Toulouse,  through  one  of  those 
strange  conil)iuations  of  fortune,   which   thwart   the   natural 
course  of  human  prosperity,  and  disappoint  the  plans  of  wise 
policy  and  beneficent  government.'^ 

I  ThP  Alhisfen«mn  war  cfimmcnopil  with  Vclly,  Hist,  do  France,  t.  iii.,  ha.s  abridged 

the  Ht'iriniiik'  f>(  He/.i.-rs.  and  a  ma.sgncre  tliis  work. 

when-ill  l.').'""!  i"''""""- c".  «<''''''rili"g  to  .M.   Fiiuriel   edited   for   the    Collection 

some  narmtii>u/(,  t',ii.(K*i.  were  put  to  the  des  DoeumenB  Inedits.  in  1S37,  a  metrical 

Bword.      Not   n   livinx   houI   oxoaped,   as  hi.story  of  the  Alliigensiiiii  crusade,  by  n 

witneliM;"  aMiiire  us.     It  vias  here  tiiiit  a  cnntcni]ior!iry  ciilHnd  liimself  Williiim  of 

Ci]it«rtian  monk,  who  led  on  the  crusa-  Tudela,  which  8eeni8  to  ln'  an  innijrinary 

dent,   answered    the    iM'(niry.    how    the  name.      It    contJiins   y.">7H    verses.      Tha 

Catholics  were  to  \>c  iliHtint.'uit.hed  from  author  beifins  as  a  vehi'nieiit  enemy  of 

heretics:   Kill  llirvt  all !    (iuil  will  know  the  heretics  and  favorer  of  the  crusade  ; 

Am  own.     ll<-*id<w  Vaissetti*.  wc  Sii<nioDdl,  but  becomes,  before  his  |iiM'ni  is  half  com- 

Litt«mture  du  .Midi.  t.  i.  p.  21)1.  pleted.  enually  adverse  to  Mnntfort.  Kol- 

'  The   Uiit    account   of    tliis    rrusade  'juet,  and  the  other  chiefs  of  the  |«tsi-cu- 

ntpilnut  the  Aiblifi-ois  \»  to  be  founil   in  tion.   tliou){h    never    adopting    heretical 

the  third  volnmo  of  Vnissett^'s  History  opinions. 

of  I>ani;ue<lor  :  the  liene<lictino  spirit  of  Si-inmndl  siiyn  —  bitterly,  biit  not  un- 

nilldn<->«  unci  veracity  tolerably  count<T-  truly  —  of  Simon   do  Montfort: — "' II«- 

baiancini;  the   pnjudices  of  orth>xloxy.  bile  gucrrier,  ausluru   dans  «M  ujcuun, 


42  LOUIS  IX.  Chap.  I.  Part.  I. 

The  rapid  progress  of  royal  power  under  Philip  Augustus 
Louis  IX.  and  his  son  had  scarcely  given  the  great  vassals 
A.D.  1226.  ^jj^g  ^Q  reflect  upon  the  change  which  it  produced 
in  their  situation.  The  crown,  with  which  some  might  singly 
have  measured  their  forces,  was  now  an  equipoise  to  their 
united  weight.  And  such  an  union  was  hard  to  be  accom- 
plished  among  men  not  always  very  sagacious  in  policy,  and 
divided  by  separate  interests  and  animosities.  They  were 
not,  however,  insensible  to  the  crisis  of  their  feudal  liberties ; 
and  the  minority  of  Louis  IX.,  guided  only  by  his  mother, 
the  regent,  Blanche  of  Castile,  seemed  to  offer  a"  favorable 
opportunity  for  recovering  their  former  situation.  Some  of 
the  most  considerable  barons,  the  counts  of  Britany,  Cham- 
pagne, and  la  JNIarche,  had,  during  the  time  of  Louis  VIII., 
shown  an  unwillingness  to  push  the  count  of  Toulouse  too  far, 
if  they  did  not  even  keep  up  a  secret  understanding  with 
him.  They  now  broke  out  into  open  rebellion ;  but  the  ad- 
dress of  Blanche  detached  some  from  the  league,  and  her 
firmness  subdued  the  rest.  For  the  first  fifteen  years  of 
Louis's  reign,  the  struggle  Avas  frequently  renewed ;  till  re- 
peated humiliations  convinced  the  refractory  that  the  throne 
was  no  longer  to  be  shaken.  A  prince  so  feeble  as  Henry 
III.  was  unable  to  afford  them  that  aid  from  England,  which, 
if  his  grandfather  or  son  had  then  reigned,  might  probably 
have  lengthened  these  civil  wars. 

But  Louis  IX.  had  methods  of  preserving  his  ascendency 
His  charac-  '^^ry  different  from  military  prowess.  That  excel- 
ter.  Its  ex-  lent  princc  was  perhaps  the  most  eminent  pattern 
ce  ences,  ^£  unswerving  probity  and  Christian  strictness  of 
conscience  that  ever  held  the  sceptre  in  any  country.  There 
is  a  peculiar  beauty  in  the  reign  of  St.  Louis,  because  it  shows 
the  inestimable  benefit  which  a  virtuous  king  may  confer  on 
his  people,  without  possessing  any  distinguished  genius.  For 
nearly  half  a  century  that  he  governed  France  there  is  not 
the  smallest  want  of  moderation  or  disinterestedness  in  his 
actions  ;  and  yet  he  raised  tlie  influence  of  the  monarchy  to 
a  much  higher  point  than  the  most  ambitious  of  his  predeces- 

fanatique    dans    sa    religion,   inflexible,  exasperated  tliat  irritable  body  and  ag- 

cruel,  et  perfide,  il  reuuissait  toutes  los  Rravated   tlieir    revenge.     (Miclielet,   jii. 

qualites     qui     pouvaient     plaire     i    un  306.)    But  the  atrocities  of  tliat  war  have 

moine."     (Vol.   vi.   p.   297.)     The   Albi-  liardly  been  equalled,  and  Sismondi  was 

gensian  sectaries  had  insulted  the  clergy  not  the  man  to  conceal  them, 
and  hissed  St.  Bernard;  which,  of  course, 


Fr.\xce.  his  ciiakacter.  43 

sois.     To  the  surprise  of  his  own  and  later  times,  he  restored 
•zreat  i):irt  of  liis  conquests  to  Ilenrv  III.,  whom  ,.,.,, 

he  might  naturally  hope  to  liave  expelled  irom 
Fnuiee.  It  would  indeed  have  been  a  tedious  work  to  oon- 
([Uer  Guienne,  which  was  full  of  strong  places ;  and  tlie  sub- 
jugation of  such  a  province  might  have  alarmed  the  other 
va>sals  of  his  crown.  lUit  it  is  the  privilege  only  of  virtuous 
minds  to  perceive  that  wisdom  resides  in  moderate  counsels : 
no  sagacity  ever  taught  a  selHsh  and  aniljitious  sovereign  fo 
tbrego  the  sweetness  of  immediate  power.  An  ordinary 
kuig,  in  the  circumstances  of  the  French  monarchy,  would 
have  fomented,  or,  at  least,  have  rejoiced  in,  the  dissensions 
which  broke  out  among  the  principal  vassals  ;  Louis  con- 
stantly employed  himself  to  reconcile  them.  In  this,  too,  his 
benevolence  had  all  the  effects  of  far-sighted  policy.  It  had 
been  the  ))ractice  of  his  three  last  predecessors  to  interpose 
their  metliatiun  in  behalf  of  the  less  powerful  classes,  the 
clergy,  the  inferior  nobility,  and  the  uihabitants  of  chartered 
towns.  Thus  the  supremacy  of  the  crown  became  a  familiar 
idea;  but  the  jjerfect  integrity  of  St.  Louis  wore  away  all 
distrust,  and  accustomed  even  the  most  jealous  feudataries  to 
look  upon  him  as  their  judge  and  legislator.  And  as  the 
royal  authority  was  hitherto  siiown  only  in  its  most  amiable 
prerogatives,  the  dis[)ensation  of  fa\or,  and  the  redress  of 
wrong,  few  were  watchful  enough  to  remark  the  transition  of 
til*'  French  constitution  from  a  feudal  league  to  an  absolute 
monarchy. 

It  was  perhaps  fortunate  for  the  display  of  St.  Louis's  vir- 
tue- that  the  throne  had  already  been  strengthened  by  the 
less  innocent  exertions  of  Philip  Augustus  and  Louis  VIII. 
A  <-entury  earhcr  his  mild  and  scrupulous  character,  unsus- 
tained  by  great  actual  power,  might  not  have  inspired  sulli- 
cient  awe.  But  the  crown  was  now  grown  so  formi(lal)Ii', 
ami  Louis  was  so  eminent  foi-  his  firmness  and  bravery, 
qualities  without  which  every  other  virtue  would  have  been 
iii«lffciii;il.  tliat  no  one  thought  it  safe  to  run  wanloniy  iiilo 
reljellion,  wliih;  his  disinterested  aihninistration  gave  no  one  a 
pretext  for  it.  Hence  the  latter  part  of  his  reign  was  alto- 
gether tran(|uil,  and  employed  in  watching  over  the  pultlic 
pi-ace  an<l  the  security  of  travellers ;  adminisleriMg  jii-liee 
pt-r^onally,  or  by  the  be>I  counsellors;  ami  coiiipiling  that 
code  of  feudal  customs  called  the  Establishniiiil>  nl'  Si.  Louis, 


44  CHARACTER  OF  LOUIS  IX.      Chap.  I.  Part  I. 

which  is  the  first  monument  of  learislation  after  the  accession 
of  the  house  of  Capet.  Not  satisfied  with  the  justice  of  his 
own  conduct,  Louis  aimed  at  that  act  of  virtue  whicli  is  rarely 
practised  by  pi-ivate  men,  and  liad  perliaps  no  example  among 
kings  —  restitution.  Commissaries  were  appointed  to  inquire 
what  possessions  had  been  unjustly  annexed  to  the  royal  do- 
main during  the  last  two  reims.  These  were  restored  to  the 
proprietors,  or,  where  length  of  time  had  made  it  difficult  to 
ascertain  the  claimant,  their  value  was  distributed  among 
the  poor.^ 

It  has  been  hinted  already  that  all  this  excellence  of  heart 
^  ,  ,  ^  m  Louis  IX.  was  not  attended  with  that  strength 
of  understanding,  which  is  necessary,  we  must  al- 
low, to  complete  the  usefulness  of  a  sovereign.  During  his 
minority  Blanche  of  Castile,  his  mother,  had  filled  the  office 
of  Regent  with  great  courage  and  firmness.  But  after  he 
grew  up  to  manhood,  her  influence  seems  to  have  passed  the 
limit  which  gratitude  and  piety  would  have  assigned  to  it ; 
and,  as  her  temper  was  not  very  meek  or  popular,  exposed 
the  king  to  some  degree  of  contempt.  He  submitted  even  to 
be  restrained  from  the  society  of  his  wife  Margaret,  daugh- 
ter of  Raymond  count  of  Provence,  a  princess  of  great  vir- 
tue and  conjugal  atfection.  Joinville  relates  a  curious  story, 
characteristic  of  Blanche's  arbitrary  conduct,  and  sufficiently 
derogatory  to  Louis.^ 

But  the  principal  weakness  of  tliis  king,  which  almost  ef- 
faced all  the  good  effi^cts  of  his  virtues,  was  superstition.  It 
would  be  idle  to  sneer  at  those  habits  of  abstemiousness  and 
mortification  which  were  part  of  the  religion  of  his  age,  and, 
at  the  worst,  were  only  injurious  to  his  own  comfort.  But  he 
had  other  prejudices,  which,  though  they  may  be  forgiven, 
must  never  be  defended.  No  man  was  ever  more  impressed 
than  St.  Louis  with  a  belief  in  the  duty  of  exterminating 
all  enemies  to  his  own  faith.  With  these  he  thought  no  lay- 
man ought  to  risk  himself  in  the  perilous  ways  of  reason- 
ing, but  to  make  answer  with  his  sword  as  stoutly  as  a  strong 
arm  and  a  fiery  zeal  could  carry  that  argument.^     Though, 

1  Velly,  torn.  V.  p.  150.     This  historian  not  to  rely.  —  Collection  cles   M6moires 

has  very  properly  dwelt  for  almost  a  vol-  relatifs  k  THistoire  de  France,  torn.  ii.  pp. 

ume  on  St.  Louis's  internal  administra-  140-156. 

tion;  it  is  one  of  the  most  valuable  parts  3  Collection    Jes    Memolres,     tom.    ii. 

of  his  work.     Joinville  is  a  real  witness,  p.  241. 

on  whom,  when  we  listen,  it  is  Impossible  3  Aussi  vous  dis-je,  me  dist  le  roy,  que 


Fr.\nce.  the  ckusades.  45 

fortunately  for  his  fame,  the  persecution  against  the  Albigeois, 
which  hail  been  the  disgrace  of  his  lather's  short  reign,  was 
at  an  end  before  he  reached  manhood,  he  sutfered  an  hypo- 
critical monk  to  establish  a  tribunal  at  Paris  for  the  suppres- 
sion of  heresy,  where  many  innocent  persons  surtV-n-d  di'alh. 

But  no  events  in  Louis's  life  were  more  menioral)le  than 
his  two  crusades,  which  lead  us  to  look  back  on  the  nature 
and  circumstances  of  that  most  singular  phenomenon  in  Eu- 
ropean history.  Though  the  crusades  involved  all  the  west- 
ern nations  of  E^urope,  without  belonging  particularly  to  any 
one,  yet,  as  Fi'ance  was  more  distinguished  than  the  i-est  iu 
most  of  those  enterprises,  I  shall  introduce  the  subject  as  a 
sort  of  disgression  from  the  main  course  of  French  history.     • 

Even  before  the  violation  of  Palestine  by  the  Saracen  arms 
it  had  been  a  prevailing  custom  among  the  Chris-  The 
tians  of  Europe  to  visit  those  scenes  rendered  in-  ^'"^^'i'^^* 
teresting  by  religion,  partly  through  delight  iu  the  effects  of 
local  association,  j)artly  in  obedience  to  the  prejudices  or  com- 
mands of  superstition.  Tliese  pilgrimages  became  more  fre- 
quent in  later  times,  in  spite,  perhaps  in  consequence,  of  the 
danger  and  hardships  which  attended  them.  For  a  while  the 
Moliammi-dan  possessors  of  Jerusalem  permitted,  or  even  en- 
couraged, a  devotion  which  they  found  lucrative  ;  but  this  was 
interrujited  whenever  the  ferocious  insolence  with  which  they 
regarded  all  intiilels  got  the  better  of  their  rapacity.  During 
the  eleventh  century,  when,  from  increasing  superstition  and 
some  particular  fancies,  the  pilgrims  were  more  numerous 
than  ever,  a  change  took  place  in  the  government  of  Pales- 
tine, which  was  overrun  l)y  the  Turkish  hordes  from  the 
North.  The.-e  barbarians  treated  the  visitors  of  Jeru.-alem 
with  still  greater  contumely,  mingling  with  their  INIohamme- 
diui  \)\<nArv,  a  consciousness  of  strength  and  couratr<',  aixl  a 
Bcorn  of  the  Ciiristians,  whom  they  knew  only  by  the  debased 
natives  of  Greece  and  Syria,  or  by  these  humble  and  defence- 
less palmers.     When  such  insults  became  known  tiiroughout 

mil.  fl    n'lft  gmnt  clero,   et   theologlen  dcprcp  of  hi);otry,  iliil  not,   ri'fiuirt'  to  K' 

p.-irfnii.  iM-  <loit  laiputi-r  nux  Juife :  miiiH  stmincil  fiirthcrstill  !>>•  Moshi'iiii,  vol.  iil. 

dolt  riiouiiiD-  lay,  ijuant  II  oit  DiesJin*  de  p.    273  (edit.  18(i3).     1    nmy  otmurTf,  by 

Ia  f"v  eiirV-fi'-iiiK'.  dffendre  la  choHi-.  uon  tho  wiiy,  that  this  writer,  who  wen  iiotli- 

pa-  .t   d<-x  piirolefi,  miiU  ik  bonne  inpc  in   Louits   IX.  exeept  his  Intoleriinee, 

e-,  int.  el  en  frapper   le»  ni6di-  ou^'ht    not  to  Imve  rh:irpeil  him  with  Id- 

»aii»  •  •  1.1'  -[•■•iiuH  a  traveni  le  corpn  tiint  cuirii.'  an  edirt  in  favor  of  the  inc|iii''itlon 

quelle  y   jKiurni    entrer.  —  Joinville,    in  In  irj'.t.  when   he  had    not   iin.«nuied   the 

<'olliM;tlon   du«   Mcmoireti,  torn.  i.  p.  23.  government. 
TUix  poaMge,   which  nhowii  a  tolerable 


46  THE  CRUSADES.  Chap.  I.  Pakt  I. 

Europe,  they  excited  a  keen  sensation  of  resentment  among 
nations  equally  courageous  and  devout,  which,  though  wanting 
as  yet  any  definite  means  of  satisfying  itself,  was  ripe  for 
Avhatever  favqrable  conjuncture  might  arise. 
—  Twenty  years  before  the  first  crusade  Gregory  VII.  had 
projected  the  scheme  of  embodying  Europe  in  arms  against 
Asia  —  a  scheme  worthy  of  his  daring  mind,  and  which, 
perhaps,  was  never  forgotten  by  Urban  II.,  who  in  every- 
thing loved  to  imitate  his  great  predecessor.^  This  design  of 
Gregory  was  founded  upon  the  supplication  of  the  Greek  em- 
peror Michael,  which  was  renewed  by  Alexius  Comnenus  to 
Urban  with  increased  importunity.  The  Turks  had  now  taken 
Nice,  and  threatened,  from  the  opposite  shore,  the  very  walls 
of  Constantinople.  Every  one  knows  whose  hand  held  the 
toi'ch  to  that  inflammable  mass  of  enthusiasm  that  pervaded 

-Europe ;  the  hermit  of  Picardy,  who,  roused  by  witnessed 
wrongs  and  imagined  visions,  journeyed  from  land  to  land, 
the  apostle  of  an  holy  war.  The  preaching  of  Pe- 
ter was  powerfully  seconded  by  Urban.  In  the 
councils  of  Piacenza  and  of  Clermont  the  deliverance  of  Jeru- 
salem was  eloquently  recommended  and  exultingly  undertaken. 
"  It  is  the  will  of  God  ! "  was  the  tumultuous  cry  that  broke 
from  the  heart  and  lips  of  the  assembly  at  Clermont ;  and 
these  words  afford  at  once  the  most  obvious  and  most  certain 
explanation  of  the  leading  principle  of  the  crusades.     Later 

'writers,  incapable  of  sympathizing  with  the  blind  fervor  of 
zeal,  or  anxious  to  find  a  pretext  for  its  effect  somewhat  more 
congenial  to  the  spirit  of  our  times,  have  sought  political  rea- 
sons for  that  which  resulted  only  from  predominant  affections. 
No  suggestion  of  these  will,  I  believe,  be  found  in  contempo- 
rary historians.     To  rescue  the  Greek  empire  from  its  immi- 

-nent  peril,  and  thus  to  secure  Christendom  from  enemies  who 
professed  towards  it  eternal  hostility,  might  have  been  a  legiti- 
mate and  magnanimous  ground  of  interference  ;  but  it  oper- 
ated scarcely,  or  not  at  all,  upon  those  who  took  the  cross.  It 
argues,  indeed,  strange  ignorance  of  the  eleventh  century  to 
ascribe  such  refinements  of  later  times  even  to  the  princes  of 
that  age.     The  Turks  were  no  doubt  repelled  from  the  neigh- 

1  Gregory  addressed,  in  1074,  a  sort  of  walls  of  Constantinople.    No  mention  of 

encyclic  letter  to  all  who  would   defend  Palestine  is  made  in  this  letter.     Labb6, 

the  Christian  faith,  enforcing  upon  them  Concilia,  t.  x.  p.  44.     St.  Marc.   Abreg6 

the  duty  of  taking  up  arms  against  the  Chron.  de  mist,  de  I'ltalie,  t.  iii.  p.  614. 
Saracens,  who  had  almost  come  up  to  the 


FK.4XCE.  THE  CRUSADES.  47 

borhood  of  Constantino[)le  by  the  crujiatlers  ;  hut  this  was  a 
cullatL-ral  ctTt'Ct  of  their  enterprise.  Nor  had  they  any  dispo- 
sition to  serve  the  interest  of  tlie  Greeks,  whom  they  soon 
came  to  hate,  and  not  entirely  without  i)rovocation,  with  al- 
most as  mueh  animosity  as  the  Moslems  themselves. 

Every  means  was  used  to  excite  an  ei>idemical  frenzy :  the 
remission  of  penance,  the  dispensation  from  those  practices 
of  self-denial  which  superstition  imposed  or  suspended  at 
pleasure,  the  ahsolution  of  all  sins,  and  the  assurance  of 
eternal  felicity.  None  doultted  that  such  as  perished  in  the 
war  received  immediately  the  reward  of  martyrdom.^  False 
miracles  ami  fanatical  prophecies,  which  were  never  so  fre- 
quent, wrought  up  the  enthusiasm  to  a  still  higher  pitt-h. 
And  these  devotional  feelings,  which  are  usually  thwarted 
and  balanced  by  other  passions,  fell  in  with  every  motive  that 
could  influence  the  men  of  that  time;  with  curiosity,  restless- 
ness, the  love  of  license,  thirst  for  war,  emulation,  ambition. 
Of  the  princes  who  assumed  the  cross,  some  probably  from 
the  beginning  speculated  upon  forming  independent  establish- 
ments in  the  East.  In  later  periods  the  temporal  benefits  of 
undertaking  a  crusade  undoubtedly  blended  themselves  with 
less  selfish  considerations.  ]\Ien  resorted  to  Palestine,  as  in 
modern  times  they  have  done  to  the  colonies,  in  order  to 
redeem  their  fame,  or  repair  their  fortune.  Thus  Gui  de 
Lusignan,  after  flying  from  France,  for  murder,  was  ulti- 
matelv  raised  to  the  throne  of  Jerusalem.  To  the  more  vul- 
gar class  were  held  out  inducements  which,  though  ab>orl)ed 
in  the  overruling  tjmaticism  of  the  first  crusade,  might  be 
exceedinglv  eilicacious  when  it  began  rather  to  flag.  During 
the  time  that  a  crusader  bore  the  cross  he  was  free  from  suit 
for  his  del)ts.  and  the  interest  of  them  was  entirely  abolished  ; 
he  was  exempted,  in  some  instances  at  least,  from  taxes,  and 
placed  under  the  protection  of  the  church,  so  that  he  could 
not  be  impleaded  in  any  civil  court,  except  on  criminal 
charges,  or  disputes  relating  to  land.'^ 

None  of  the  sovereigns  of  Europe  look  a  part  in  lln'  first 


1  Nam  qui  pro  ChrlnU  nomine  dcrer-  Bcrt<'d  a  bull  of  EuRenius   III.  in  IIW, 

tanti.*.    Ill    nrli,.   flilcliuni    Pt    Chrintliina  coiitiiiiiinK     some    of     thi'sc     lirivili-p'"- 

Diililil  •licuntur.  wruinljonMi«n   hhIiiiii  OHhth  iiro  Rniiitcd  )iy  I'liilip  A^l^'ll.•.^ul^ 

liifiiiiil.i-.  v<ruiii  ct  p<.<Tniiiinuiii  <t  il.-lic  in     1214.        Oploiiimm-i-."     'li-«    Koi    d« 

t'iruin  f.miiliiMidjiiii  ••roliiiiUHiilKplitionwii  Kninrc,  toiii.  1.     Sw  ii\mj  Du  Cuiikc,  voc. 

promiTi-ri.     Mill.  Tvr.  1.  x.  o.  2H.  Cruriu  I'rivilfgiu. 


}  Otlio  of  Krisvngeu,    c.  3u,    boa    in- 


48  FIRST  CRUSADE.  Chap.  I.  Part  I. 

crusade  ;  but  many  of  their  chief  vassals,  great  part  of  the 
inferior  nobiUty,  and  a  countless  multitude  of  the  common 
people.  The  priests  left  their  parishes,  and  the  monks  their 
cells ;  and  though  the  peasantry  were  then  in  general  bound 
to  the  soil,  we  find  no  check  given  to  their  emigration  for  this 
cause.  Numbers  of  women  and  children  swelled  the  crowd ; 
it  appeared  a  sort  of  sacrilege  to  repel  any  one  from  a  work 
which  was  considered  as  the  manifest  design  of  Providence. 
But  if  it  were  lawful  to  interpret  the  will  of  Providence  by 
events,  few  undertakings  have  been  more  branded  by  its  dis- 
approbation than  the  crusades.  So  many  crimes  and  so  much 
misery  have  seldom  been  accumulated  in  so  short  a  space  as 
in  the  three  years  of  the  first  expedition.  We  should  be 
warranted  by  contemporary  writers  in  stating  the  loss  of  the 
Cln-istians  alone  during  this  period  at  nearly  a  million ;  but 
at  the  least  computation  it  must  have  exceeded  half  that  num- 
ber.-*^  To  engage  in  the  crusade,  and  to  perish  in  it,  were 
almost  synonymous.  Few  of  those  myriads  who  were  mus- 
tered in  the  plains  of  Nice  returned  to  gladden  their  friends 
in  Europe  with  the  story  of  their  triumph  at  Jerusalem. 
Besieging  alternately  and  besieged  in  Antioch,  they  drained 
to  the  lees  the  cup  of  misery :  three  hundred  thousand  sat 
down  before  that  place ;  next  year  there  remained  but  a  sixth 
part  to  pursue  the  enterprise.  But  their  losses  were  least  in 
the  field  of  battle ;  the  intrinsic  superiority  of  European 
prowess  was  constantly  displayed  ;  the  angel  of  Asia,  to  apply 
the  bold  language  of  our  poet,  high  and  unmatchable,  where 
her  rival  was  not,  became  a  fear ;  and  the  Christian  lances 
bore  all  before  them  in  their  shock  from  Nice  to 
Antioch,  Edessa,  and  Jerusalem.  It  was  here, 
where  their  triumph  was  consummated,  that  it  was  stained 
with  the  most  atrocious  massacre ;  not  limited  to  the  hour  of 
resistance,  but  renewed  deliberately  even  after  that  famous 
penitential  procession  to  the  holy  sepulchre,  which  might  have 
calmed  their  ferocious  dispositions,  if,  through  the  misguided 
enthusiasm  of  the  enterprise,  it  had  not  been  rather  calculated 
to  excite  them."-^ 

1   William  of  Tyre  says   that  at   the  been    made  in  Hungary  of  the  rabble 

review    before    Nice    there   were    found  under  Gaultier  Sans-Avoir. 

600,000  of  both  sexes,  exclusive  of  100,0(JO  2  The  work  of  Mailly_,  entitled  L'Esprit 

cavalry  armed  in  mail.     L.  ii.  c.  23.    But  des  Croisades,  is  deserving  of  considerable 

Fulk  of  Chartres  reckons  the  same  num-  praise  for  its   diligence  and  impartiality, 

ber,  besides  women,  children,  and  priests.  It  carries  the  history,  however,  no  farther 

An   immense  slaughter  had  previously  than  the  first  expedition.     Gibbon's  two 


fr.a_nce.  the  second  crusade.  49 

Tlie  conquests  obtaineil  at  such  a  price  by  the  first  crusade 
were   chietlv  comprised  in   the  maritune  inu'ts  of, 

8  1-''         ^1  .         !•    T-'  1  1  11       Latin  con- 

yna.      Excejit  tlie  state  ot   Jbdessa   beyond  the  quests  in 

Euphrates,^  which,  in  it^  best  days,  extended  over  '*-^'"*' 
great  p:u-t  ot"  Mesopotamia,  the  Latin  possessions  never 
reached  more  than  a  tew  leagues  from  the  sea.  Witliin  the 
baiTier  of  Mount  Libanus  tiieir  arms  might  be  feared,  but 
their  power  was  never  established  ;  and  the  prophet  was  still 
uivoked  in  tiie  mosques  of  Aleppo  and  Damascus.  The  prin- 
cipality of  Antioch  to  the  north,  the  kingdom  of  Jerusalem 
with  its  feudal  dependencies  of  Tripoli  and  Tiberias  to  the 
south,  were  assigned,  the  one  to  Boemond,  a  brother  of  Rob- 
ert Guiscard,  count  of  Ajiuha,  the  other  to  Godfrey  of  Bou- 
logne,- whose  extraordinary  merit  had  justly  raised  him  to  a 
degree  of  influence  with  the  chief  crusaders  that  has  been 
sometimes  confounded  with  a  legitimate  authority.**  In  the 
course  of  a  few  years  Tyre,  Ascalon,  and  the  other  cities  upon 
the  sea-coast,  were  subjected  by  the  successors  of  Godfrey  on 
the  throne  of  Jerusalem.  But  as  their  enemies  had  been 
stunned,  not  killed,  by  the  western  storm,  the  Latins  were 
constantly  molested  by  the  Mohammedans  of  Egypt  and 
Syria.  They  were  exposed  as  the  outposts  of  Christendom, 
with  no  respite  and  few  resources.  A  second  cnisade,  in 
which  the  emperor  Coni-ad  IIL  and  Louis  VII.  of  c, 

1,  1  ,        •  1  ,  ,   Second 

'  ranee  were  engaged,  each  with  seventy  thousand  crusade. 

cavalry,    made    scarce    any    diversion ;    and    that  '^■"'  ^^'^^' 

vast  army  wasted  away  in  the  passage  of  Natolia.* 

chapters  on  the  crusades,  thouirh    not  liini!>elf,    Rex     Ilierusalem.     r,atinorum 

without  iniiccuraoies.  are  a  brilliuut  ))or-  primui).     AN'ill.  Tvr.  1.  ii.  c.  12. 

ti'jn   of    hU  gr.iit   work.      The   oriifiiial  a  The  heroes   of  tlie  cru.sade   are  just 

writers  are  chiefly  collected  in   two  folio  like  those  of  romance.      Godfrey    is   not 

volume*,  entitled  (jei>tu  Dei  i>er  Fnincos,  only  the  wisest  but  thestronjrcst  man  in 

Hanover.  lt;il.  the"army.     Perhaps  Tasso  ha.s  lost  some 

1  E•le^^Ul  wa*  a  little   Christian  princi-  part  of  tliis  phyaiccd  superiority  for  tlie 

pality.  surrounded  by,  and  tributary  to.  sake  of  coutra.stiii){  him  with   tlie  ima>ti- 

the    Turks.       The    inlialpitunt/<    invited  nary   Uinaldo.      lie   cleaves    a   Tnrk   in 

Il.iMwiii,  on  hU  pro(?ress  iu  the  Hrst  cru-  twain,  from  the  shoulder  to  tlie  haunch. 

.-.i  I-,  and   he  made  no  (freat  scruple  of  A  noble   Arab,  after  the  taking'  uf  Jeru- 

fiiliplantinn    the    rf.itpiing    prince,    who  salem,  recjuewts  him  to  try  his  sword  upon 

iiil.i-l   is   repr<-H<!nt4^il   as   a    tyrant   and  a  camel,  when   (iodfrey,' with  ease,  luto 

ii-iir|--r.     K'prit   des   (.'roLsades,  t.  iv.  p.  off  the  head      The  Arab,  susp.-ctiiit;  tiirre 

•i^-     f*"'  'juignen,  Uijit.  des  Uuofl,  torn.  li.  niiffhtU!  something  pwuliar  in  the  blade, 

p.  I'lj-l'IJ.  desires    him    to  do   the    same    with    his 

•-•i.^llrry  never  to(;k   the  title  of  Kin((  sword;   and    the   hero   oblii^es   him     by 

of  .bruvil.-m,   not  cluswintt,  he  said,  to  demolishing  a  second  camel.     Will.  Tyr. 

wear  a  rrown  of  ifoM  in   tliat   city  where  1.  i.x.  c.  2U. 

hi"    Saviour    had     Ihi-u    crowned    with  <  Vertot  puts   the   destruction    In  the 

thorns,   ilaldwin,  <io<Jfrcy'»  brother,  who  second  crusade  at  twohundn^l  thousand 

surceel.-d  him  within  two  years,  entitlos  men  (Hist,  de  Malthe,  p.  iZJ)\  and  from 

VOL.   I.  4 


50  THE  SECOND  CRUSADE.         Chap.  I.  Part  I. 

The  decline  of  the  Christian  establishments  in  the  East  is 
asci'ibed  by  William  of  Tyre  to  the  extreme  viciousness  of 
Decline  of  their  manners,  to  the  adoption  of  European  arms 
the  Latin  by  the  Oi'ientals,  and  to  the  union  of  the  Moham- 
ties^i^n^the  mcdan  principalities  under  a  single  chief.^  With- 
East.  Q^(^  denying  the  operation  of   these  causes,    and 

especially  the  last,  it  is  easy  to  perceive  one  more  radical  than 
all  the  three,  the  inadequacy  of  their  means  of  self-defence. 
The  kingdom  of  Jeinisalem  was  guarded  only,  exclusive  of 
European  volunteers,  by  the  feudal  service  of  eight  hundred 
and  sixty-six  knights,  attended  each  by  four  archers  on 
horseback,  by  a  militia  of  five  thousand  and  seventy-five 
burghers,  and  by  a  conscription,  in  great  exigencies,  of  the 
remaining  population.'^  Wilham  of  Tyre  mentions  an  ainny 
of  one  thousand  three  hundred  horse  and  fifteen  thousand 
foot,  as  the  greatest  which  had  ever  been  collected,  and  pre- 
dicts the  utmost  success  from  it,  if  wisely  conducted.^  This 
was  a  little  before  the  irruption  of  Saladin.  In  the  last  fatal 
battle  Lusignan  seems  to  have  had  somewhat  a  larger  force.'* 
Nothing  can  more  strikingly  evince  the  ascendency  of  Europe 
than  the  resistance  of  these  Fi"ankish  acquisitions  in  Syria 
during  nearly  two  hundred  years.  Several  of  their  victories 
over  the  Moslems  were  obtained  against  such  disparity  of 
numbers,  that  they  may  be  compared  with  whatever  is  most 
illusti'ious  in  history  or  romance.^  These  perhaps  were  less 
due  to  the  descendants  of  the  first  crusaders,  settled  in  the 

William  of  Tyre's  language,  there  seems  in  flowing  robes.      Montfaucon,    Monu- 

no  reason  to  consider  this  an  exaggera-  mens  de  la  Monarchic  Francjaise,   t.   i. 

tion.    L.  XTi.  c.  19.  pi.  60. 

1  L.   xxi.  c.   7.      John  of  Vitry  also  2  Gibbon,  c.  29,  note  125.      Jerusalem 

mentions  the  change  of  weapons   by  the  itself  was  very  thinly  inhabited.     For  all 

Saracens,  in  imitation  of  the  Latins,  using  the  heathens,  says  William  of  Tyre,   had 

the  lances  and  coat  of  mail   instead  of  perished  in  the   massacre  when  the  city 

bows  and  arrows,  c.  92.     But,  according  was  taken;   or.  if  any  escaped,  they  were 

to  a  more  ancient  writer,   part  of  Soli-  not  allowed  to  return  ;  no  heathen  being 

mans  (the  Kilidge  Arslan  of  De  Guignes)  thought  fit  to  dwell    in  the    holy  city. 

army  in  the  first  crusade  was  in  armor,  Baldwin  invited  some  Arabian  Christians 

loricis  et  galeis  et  clypeis  aureis  valde  to  settle  in  it. 

armati.     Albertus  Aquensis,  1.  ii.  c.  27.  3  L.  xxii.  c.  27. 

I  may  add  to  this  a  testimony  of  another  *  A  primo  introitu  Latinorum  in   ter- 

kind,  not  less   decisive.      In    the  Abbey  ram  sanctam,  says  John  de  Vitry,  nostri 

of  St.  Denis  there  were  ten   pictures,  in  tot   militos    in    uno    proelio    congregare 

stained  glass,    representing    sieges    and  nequiverunt.     Erant  enim  mille  ducenti 

battles  in  the  first  crusade.     These  were  miUtes   loricati;     peditum    autem   cum 

made  by  order  of  Suger,  the  minister  of  arniis,  arcubus  et  b.alistis  circiter  viginti 

Louis  VI.,  and  consequently  in  the  eai'ly  millia,   infaustpe   expoditioni  intcrfuisse 

part  of  the  twelfth  century.     In  many  of  dicuntur.    Gestadeiper  Fraucos,  p.  1118. 

them  the  Turks  are   painted  in  coats  of  5  A  brief  summary  of  these  victories  is 

mail,  sometimes  even  in  a  plated  cuirass,  given  by  John  of  Vitry,  c.  93. 
In  others  they  are  quite  unarmed,  and 


A.D.  1187. 


France.  THIRD  CRUSADE.  .".1 

Holy  Land.^  tlian  to  those  volunteers  from  Eiiro[)e  whom 
martial  ardor  and  religious  zeal  im[)elled  to  the  service.  It 
was  tlie  iH'nanee  commonly  imj)osed  \\\)on  men  of  rank  fir 
the  most  heinous  crimes,  to  serve  a  number  of  years  under 
the  banner  of  the  cross.  Thus  a  perpetual  supply  of  warriors 
was  poured  in  from  Europe ;  and  in  this  sense  the  crusades 
may  be  said  to  have  lasted  without  inteiTuission  durinir  the 
whole  period  of  the  Latin  .<ettlfments.  C)f  these  defenders 
the  most  reno\vned  were  the  military  orders  of  the  Knights 
of  the  Temple  an<l  of  the  Hospital  of  St.  John  ;-  in-tituted. 
the  one  in  1124^,  the  other  in  Ills,  tbr  the  sole  pur|)()se  of 
protecting  the  Holy  Land.  The  Teutonic  order,  estabhslied 
in  11 OO.  when  the  kingdom  of  Jerusalem  was  falling,  soon 
diverted  its  schemes  of  lioly  warfore  to  a  very  different  quar- 
ter of  the  world.  Large  estates,  as  well  in  Palestine  as 
throughout  Europe,  enriched  the  two  former  institutions ;  but 
tlie  pride,  rapaciousness,  and  misconduct  of  both,  especially 
of  the  Templars,  seem  to  have  balanced  the  advantages 
derived  from  their  valor.'  At  length  the  famous 
Saladin,  usurping  the  throne  of  a  feeble  dynasty 
which  liad  reigned  in  Egypt,  broke  in  upon  the  Christians  of 
Jeru.^alem ;  the  king  and  the  kingdom  fell  into  his  hands ; 
nothing  remained  but  a  few  strong  towns  upon  the  sea-coast. 
These  misfortunes  roused  once  more  the  princes  of  Europe, 
aixl  the  tliird  crusade  was  undertaken  by  three  xhini 
of  her  sovereigns,  the  greatest  in  personal  estinia-  '^''usjide. 
lion  as  well  as  dignity  —  by  the  emperor  Frederic  '^•"- 1^^^- 
BarI)arossa,  PhiUp  Augustus  of  France,  and  our  own  Rich- 
ard Coeur  de  Lion.  But  this,  like  the  preceding  enterprise, 
fiiled  of  i)ermanent  effect ;  and  those  feats  of  romantic 
j)ro\ve-s  which  made  tlie  name  of  Richard  so  famous  both  in 
Plurope  and  Asia*  i)roved  only  the  total  inellicacy  of  all  ex- 

I  Many  of  th<-«e  were  of  a  monffrel  ex-  '  See  a  curious  inB'nnce  of  tlio  niisoon- 

tnu-tion,  ilf«ciniU-.l  troiii  a  Kniiik  iMin-nt  durt  and  iiixuloncv  of  tliu  Tciiipliirs.   in 

oti   <.iie   «i.l<s  and    Syrian   on   the  otlnT.  William  of  Tyre,  1.  xx.  o.  Si.     Tlio  T.'in- 

TIk-"- «.rf  railed  I'oulairiH,  I'ullaiii  ;  and  i>lar»  posseKdcil    nine   thousand   nianorx, 

u.r.-  |.  .  k.-l  ii|.<,ii  n-a  mean.  (U-Kenonitti  and   the    Kni({htH  of   .><t.   .Inlin    nineteen 

r'           III'    ,_-.■;   <>loM'.  r.  I'ullani ;  and  thouHiind,   in    Kurope.     The    latter  «ero 

"'-•■>'''"-   -or  .loinville.  In  Collection  almoHt  ax  mudi   reproached  as  the  Teni- 

deii    MeniuireH    relatifn   1    rUintoire    de  plant  for    their  prido   and   avarice.      L. 

Fran.e.  t.  11.  p.  I'Ji*.  xviii.  c.  6. 

'   The    St,    Jt.lui    of    Jeruaalein    was  i  When    a   Turk"ii   lionie   utartetl  at  a 

nelthi-r  the  Kvanifeli^t  nor  yet   the  Hap-  hush,  he  wonld  eliidi-  him,  .loinvill.-  wiy«, 

t'  •    '     •  •!  certain  Cyprlot,  nurrmmed  the  with,  CtiideN-tn  i|u'y  k>'M  le  mi  Itlc-hard? 

'                   .who    hail    Ijeen    patriarch  of  \\iimen    kept    their   children   .(iiiil   with 

X.  ,._i.  the  threat  of  hrlnniiiK'  lll'-hard  !••  them. 


02  CKUSADES  OF   ST.  LOUIS.     Chap.  I.  Part  I. 

ertions  in  an  attempt  so  impracticable ;  Palestine  was  never 
A.D.  1204.  the  scene  of  another  ci'usacle.  One  great  arma- 
A.D.  1218.  ment  was  diverted  to  the  siege  of  Constantinople  ; 
and  another  wasted  in  frnitless  attempts  upon  Egypt.  The 
emperor  Frederic  II.  afterwards  procured  the  restoration  of 
Jerusalem  by  the  Saracens ;  but  the  Christian  princes  of 
Syria  were  unable  to  defend  it,  and  their  possessions  were 
gradually  reduced  to  the  maritime  towns.  Acre,  the  last  of 
these,  was  finally  taken  by  storm  in  1291  ;  and  its  ruin 
closes  the  history  of  the  Latin  dominion  in  Syria,  which 
Europe  had  already  ceased  to  protect. 

The  two  last  crusades  were  undertaken  by  St.  Louis.  In 
Crusades  of  the  first  he  was  attended  by  2,800  knights  and 
St.  Louis.  50,000  ordinary  ti'oops.^  He  landed  at  Damietta 
A.D.  1248.  jj^  Egypt,  for  that  country  was  now  deemed  the  key 
of  the  Holy  Land,  and  easily  made  himself  master  of  the 
city.  But  advancing  up  the  country,  he  found  natural  im- 
pediments as  well  as  enemies  in  his  way ;  the  Turks  assailed 
him  with  Greek  fire,  an  instrument  of  wai'fare  almost  as 
surprising  and  terrible  as  gunpowder  ;  he  lost  his  brother  the 
count  of  Ai'tois,  with  many  knights,  at  Massoura,  near  Cairo  ; 
and  began  too  late  a  retreat  towards  Damietta.  Such  calami- 
ties now  fell  upon  this  devoted  army  as  have  scarce  ever 
been  surpassed ;  hunger  and  want  of  every  kind,  aggravated 
by  an  unsparing  pestilence.  At  length  the  king  was  made 
prisoner,  and  very  few  of  the  army  escaped  the  Turkish 
cimeter  in  battle  or  m  captivity.  Four  hundred  thousand 
livres  were  paid  as  a  ransom  for  Louis.  He  returned  to 
France,  and  passed  near  twenty  years  in  the  exercise  of  those 
virtues  which  are  his  best  title  to  canonization.  But  the  fatal 
illusions  of  superstition  were  still  always  at  his  heart ;  nor 
did  it  fail  to  be  painfully  observed  by  his  subjects  that  he  still 
J,..  kept  the  cross  upon  his  garment.  His  last  expedi- 
tion was  originally  designed  for  Jerusalem.  But 
he  had  received  some  intimation  that  the  king  of  Tunis  was 
desirous  of  embracing  Cliristianity.  That  these  intentions 
might  be  carried  into  effect,  he  sailed  out  of  his  way  to  the 
coast  of  Africa,  and  laid  siege  to  that  city.     A  fever  here  put 

1  The  Arabian  writers  give  liini  9500  bon's  authority,  I  put  the  main  body  at 

knights   and   130,000   common   soldiers.  50,0<,K);  but,  if  Joiuville  has  sUited  this, 

But   I   greatly  prefer  tlie    authority   of  I  have  niis.sed  the  passage.    Their  va.ssals 

Joiuville,  wlio  has  twice  mentioned   the  amounted  to  1800. 
number  of  knights  in  the  text.    On  Gib- 


Fr-vsce.  PHILIP  III.  *)3 

an  end  to  his  life,  sacrificed  to  tliat  rulinjx  passion  wliicli  novor 
Would  have  forsaken  Iiini.  But  lie  Icul  survived  tlic  spirit  ot' 
the  erusades  ;  the  disastrous  expedition  to  K<ry|)t  had  lund 
his  suhject.s.  thouuli  not  himself,  of  their  folly ;  ^  his  son,  after 
makiiiiT  ti-i-ni-  with  Tunis,  returned  to  Franee ;  the  Cln-is(inns 
were  sutlV-red  to  lose  what  they  still  retained  in  the  Holy 
Land ;  and  though  many  princes  in  subsequent  ajres  talked 
loudly  of  renewing  the  war.  the  promise,  if  it  were  ever 
sincere,  was  never  accomplished. 

Louis  IX.  had  increased  the  royal  domain  by  the  annexa- 
tion of  several  counties  and   other  less  important  phiup  iii. 
fiefs :  but  soon  after  the  accession  of  Philip  III.  *^-^-  ^-''^■ 
(surnamed  the  Bold)  it  received  a  far  more  considerable  aug- 
menti\tion.     Alfonso,  the   late  king's   brother,   had  been   in- 
vested with    the    county  of   Poitou,    ceded    by  Heniy  III., 
together  with  part  of  Auvergne  and  of  Saintonge ;  and  held 
al<o.  as  h.as  been  said  before,  the  remains  of  the  great  lief  of 
Toulou.se,  in  right  of  his  wife  Jane,  heiress  of  Raymond  VII. 
UjMjn  his  death,  and  that  of  his  countess,  which 
happened  about  the  same  time,  the  king  entered 
into   possession    of  all    these    territories.      This    acquisition 
brought    the    .sovereigns   of   France    into    contact   with   new 
neighbors,  the  kings  of   Aragon   and   the  powers  of   Italy. 
The  first  great  and  lastiu'r  fbreiLrn  war  which  thev        ,.,.„ 

•     \.D.  112(0. 

carrieil  on  was  that  of  Plnlip  III.  and  Philip  IV. 
against  the  former  kingdom,  exeiteil  by  the  insurrection  ot' 
Sicily.     Tliough   efi'ecting  no  change   in   the  boundaries   ni 
their  dominions,  this  war  may  be  deemed  a  sort  of  epoch  in 
the  hi-fory  of  France  and   S|)ain.  as  well  as  in  that  of  Italy, 
to  which  it  mcjre  peculiarly  belongs. 


'  The  iffudal  of  Joinville  to  accompany  puis  ouy-jo  dire  a  plusieurs,  quo  ceux 

the  kiiijr  in  this  «ocond  oruwulp  in  very  qui  luy  conHcillercnt  I'cntcrprinse  lie  l.» 

Dii'iiifiralilc.  nu'l  (fire.!  »n  an  iiiMitr||t  into  croix  fin-iit  uii  trc/,  (rraiit  mal.i't  |ieilit- 

tljf  l.ii'l  i-fTi^ct!'  r if  both  ex|M"litions.     Le  n'ut  ninrt^'llciiiciit.     Cur  tiiiills  (iu'iM"ii«t 

II'.   ■!••  France  et  le  iliiy  <le  XaTarre  me  an  royaumeile  Kmnce.  tout  son  nnainue 

IT lent  fort  'le   uie  rriil.'«?r,  et   entre-  vivoit  en  puix,  et  n'trimit  justice.     Kt  iu- 

j.reti.lre  le  cliemin    ilu    peli-riniMfe  de  la  continent  qu'il   en    fust  ors.   tout  com- 

croix.     Mais  je  Icur  iT-ixinJi.  (jue  tenilis  uiema  i  decliner  ot   i  euipirer.  —  T.  ii. 

qui- j'avoii.  i.»t<-  onltre-niiT  au  Bervice  de  p.  lr»8. 

I*ii-u,  (jne  li-   c.-nK  i-t  hIHiits  du  Koy  de         In  the  Fabliaux  of  liC  Oniml  il'Au.^sy 

|/r,,,,..    .%..!■•»(    tni|i  iffi've  et  foulle  ni>-H  we  have   a   neat   piHMU    hy   Kutulxeuf.   a 

it  iju'lU    eu   ent'iient  npovrix;  writer  r>f  St.    I^mis'.s  ajfi'.  in   a    diiiliit:ue 

t  e'"  J">>i<»i  il  ne  M-roit  que  eulx  lii't»i.i.|i  a  crusader  and  a  non-cruwi'ler, 

et  iii'iv  ni.  n»uit  en   W)rtl«»oii».     Kt  ve<)le  wherein,  tliouKli  tie  irivi'H  tlie   hint  word 

cl.r.uienl.  ni  je  mu  me<'t<iie  au  IH-Ieriiiai;e  to  the  former.  It  iH  plain  that  lu-  clesijjneil 

de  In  crtiix.  que  ce   wrolt   la   totjile  de-  the  (ipposiUj  wale  t<i  pre|M>Mdenit«.  —  T. 

■tructiou  de  nieitiilz  |>orn«i  Huhjeti*.     De-  li.  p.  !•«}. 


54  PHILIP  IV.  Chai>.  I.  Part  I. 

There  still  remained  five  great  and  ancient  fiefs  of  the 
French  crown  ;  Champagne,  Guienne,  Flanders,  Burgundy, 
Philip  the  and  Britany.  But  Philip  lY.,  usually  called 
Fair.  ^[^q  Fair,  married  the  heiress  of  the  fii'st,  a  little 

A.D.  1285.  before  his  father's  death ;  and  although  he  gov- 
erned that  county  in  her  name  without  pretending  to  reunite 
it  to  the  royal  domain,  it  was,  at  least  in  a  pohtical  sense,  no 
longer  a  part  of  the  feudal  body.  "With  some  of  his  other 
vassals  Philip  used  more  violent  methods.  A  pai'allel  might 
be  draA\Ti  between  this  prince  and  PhiHp  Augustus.  But 
while  in  ambition,  violence  of  temper  and  unprincipled  rapac- 
ity, as  well  as  in  the  success  of  their  attempts  to 
meat  of  the  cstabhsli  an  absolute  authority,  they  may  be  con- 
mourrchy  sidered  as  nearly  equal,  we  may  remark  this  differ- 
under  his  ence,  that  Pliihp  the  Fair,  who  was  destitute  of 
reign.  military  talents,  gained  those  ends  by  dissimulation 

which  his  predecessor  had  reached  by  force. 

The  duchy  of  Guienne,  though  somewhat  abridged  of  its 
original  extent,  was  still  by  far  the  most  considerable  of  the 
French  fiefs,  even  independently  of  its  connection  with  Eng- 
land.-^ Philip,  by  dint  of  perfidy,  and  by  the  egregious  inca- 
pacity of  Edmund,  brother  of  Edward  I.,  contrived  to  obtain, 
and  to  keep  for  sevei'al  years,  the  possession  of  this  great 
province.  A  quarrel  among  some  French  and 
English  sailors  having  provoked  retaliation,  till  a 
sort  of  piratical  war  commenced  between  the  two  countries, 
Edward,  as  duke  of  Guienne,  was  summoned  into  the  king's 
court  to  answer  for  the  trespass  of  his  subjects.  Upon  this 
he  despatched  his  brother  to  settle  terms  of  reconciliation, 
Avith  fuller  powers  than  should  have  been  intrusted  to  so  cred- 
ulous a  negotiator.  Philip  so  outwitted  this  prince,  through  a 
fictitious  treaty,  as  to  procure  from  him  the  surrender  of  all 
the  fortresses  in  Guienne.  He  then  threw  off"  the  mask,  and, 
after  again  summoning  Edward  to  appear,  pronounced  the 

1  Philip  was  highly  offended   that  in-  P.  rege  Francife,  B.  rege  Anglite  tenente 

struments  made  in   Guienne  should  be  ducatum  Aquitanise.    Several  precedents 

dated  by  the  year  of  Edward's  reign,  and  were  shown  by  the  English   where   the 

not  of  his  own.     This  almost  sole  badge  counts  of  Toulouse  had  used  the   form, 

of  sovereignty  had  been  preserved  by  the  Regnaute  A.  Comite  Toloste.     Rymer,   t. 

kings   of   France   during  all    the   feudal  ii.    p.    1083.      As  this  is   the  first   time 

ages.     A   struggle   took   place   about  it,  that  I  quote  Rymer,  it  may  be  proper  to 

which  is  recorded  in  a  curious  letter  from  observe   that  my  references   are   to   the 

John  de  (jreilli  to  Edward.     The  French  London  edition,  the  paging   of  which  is 

court  at  last  consented  to  let   dates   be  preserved  on  the  margin  of  that  printed 

thus  expressed:    Actum  fuit,   regnante  at  the  Hague. 


Fraxce.  AGGKAXDIZEMKNT  OF  IKANCE.  5J 

contiscation  of  his  fief.^  This  busuiess  is  the  greatest  blemish 
iu  the  jtohtioal  chanu-terut"  Edwanh  But  his  eagerness  al)Oiit 
the  ac(iuisiiion  ut"  SeulhuKl  reiideretl  him  less  sensible  tu  the 
danger  ot"  a  possession  in  many  respects  more  valuable ;  and 
the  s[iint  of  I'esistanee  among  the  English  nobility,  which  his 
lubitrary  measures  had  pro\ oked,  broke  out  very  ^  ^  ^^^^ 
opportunely  for  Philip,  to  thwart  every  effort  for 
the  recovery  of  Gnienne  by  arms.  But  after  rei)eated  sus- 
pensions of  hostilities  a  treaty  was  tinally  concluded,  by  which 
rhilip  restored  the  province,  on  the  agreement  of  a  marriage 
between  liis  daughter  Isabel  and  the  heir  of  England. 

To  this  restitution  he  was  ehiefly  iutluced  by  the  ill  success 
that  attended  his  anus  iu  Elanders,  another  of  the  great  tiefs 
which  this  ambitious  monarch  had  endeavored  to  confiscate. 
We  have  not,  perhaps,  as  clear  evidence  of  the  original  injus- 
tice of  his  proceechugs  towards  the  count  of  Flanders  as  iu 
the  case  of  Guienne ;  but  he  certainly  twice  detained  his  per- 
son, once  after  drawing  him  on  some  pretext  to  liis  court,  and 
again,  in  violation  of  the  faith  i)ledged  by  his  generals.  The 
Flemings  made,  however,  so  vigorous  a  resistance, 
tiiat  Philip  was  unable  to  reduce  that  small  coun- 
try ;  and  in  one  famous  battle  at  Conrlray  they  discomfited  a 
jKjwerful  army  with  that  utter  loss  and  ignominy  to  whicli  the 
undisciplined  impetuosity  of  the  French  nobles  was  preemi- 
nently exposed.'^ 

Two  other  acquisitions  of  Philip  the  Fair  deserve  notice  ; 
that  (jf  the  counties  of  Augouleme  and  La  Marehe,  upon  a 
sentence  of  forfeiture  (and,  as  it  seems,  a  very  harsh  one) 
p!is>ed  again>t  tln'  reigning  count ;  and  that  of  the  city  of 
Lyon-,  and  its  adjacent  territory,  which  had  not  even  feu- 
dally been  subject  to  the  crown  of  France  for  more  than  three 
hundn-d  yi-ars.  Lvons  was  tiie  dowry  of  iMatilda.  diiugliter 
of  Louis  IV.,  on  her  marriage  with  Conrad,  king  ot'  IJur- 
gimdy,  and  was  l)e<iueat]ied  with  tiie  rest  of  that  kingdom  by 
Koiliijph,  in  1<).'32,  to  the  empire.  Frederic  Barbarossa  con- 
f<rrcd  u|)on  the  archbishop  of  Lyons  all  regalian  rights  over 
the  city,  with  tlie  title  of  Imperial  Vicar.     France  seems  to 

'In    tlio    viiw    I    \in\p    taki-n   of    UiIm  2Tho  Flfiiilncs   took  iit  Coiirlxiiy  4i""i 

trnti«a<tloii  1  luivr  Ix-i'ii  Kui<tcc|  by  wvithI  [mlr  of  irilt  dpiir,'',  wliiili  wvvv  only  worn 

inntriinii-nU   in   llynnT.    which   Ichti'  no  hykniKhlH.   'I'Iict  Vi'lly.  hii|i|ill>  fuonifli, 

(louht  on  my  miii'l-     Vrlly  of  conrw  ri-]i-  conipan-rt  to  Il.innitmrM  tliroe  bimliolH  of 

n-M-iitfi   the  mutter  more   Divoruhly   for  ({olil  riiij;^  »'  '  "'om 
Philip. 


56  THE  SALIC  LAW.  Chap.  I.  Part  L 

have  had  no  concern  with  it,  till  St.  Louis  was  called  in  as  a 
mediator  in  disputes  between  the  chapter  and  the  city,  during 
a  vacancy  of  the  see,  and  took  the  exercise  of  jurisdiction 
upon  himself  for  the  time.  Philip  III.,  having  been  chosen 
arbitrator  in  similar  circumstances,  insisted,  before  he  would 
restore  the  jurisdiction,  upon  an  oath  of  fealty  from  the  new 
archbishop.  This  oath,  which  could  be  demanded,  it  seems, 
by  no  right  but  that  of  force,  continued  to  be  taken,  till,  in 
1310,  an  archbishop  resisting  what  he  had  thought  an  usurpa- 
tion, the  city  was  besieged  by  Philip  IV.,  and,  the  inhabitants 
not  being  unwilhng  to  submit,  was  finally  united  to  the 
French  crown.^ 

Philip  the  Fair  left  three  sons,  who  successively  reigned  in 
Louis  X.  France  ;  Louis,  surnamed  Hutin,  Philip  the  Long, 
A.D.  1314.  and  Charles  the  Fair ;  with  a  daughter,  Isabel,  mar- 
ried to  Edward  II.  of  England.^  Louis,  the  eldest,  sumdved 
his  father  little  more  than  a  year,  leaving  one  daughter,  and 
his  queen  pregnant.  The  circumstances  that  en- 
Saiifiaw."^  sued  require  to  be  accurately  stated.  Louis  had 
Philip  V.  possessed,  in  right  of  his  mother,  the  kingdom  of 
Navarre,  with  the  counties  of  Champagne  and 
Brie.  Upon  his  death,  Philip,  his  next  brother,  assumed  the 
regency  both  of  France  and  Navarre  ;  and  not  long  afterwards 
entered  into  a  treaty  with  Eudes,  duke  of  Burgundy,  uncle  of 
the  princess  Jane,  Louis's  daughter,  by  which  her  eventual 
rights  to  the  succession  were  to  be  regulated.  It  was  agreed 
that,  in  case  the  queen  should  be  delivered  of  a  daughter, 
these  two  princesses,  or  the  survivor  of  them,  should  take  the 
grandmother's  inheritance,  Navarre  and  Champagne,  on  re- 
leasing all  claim  to  the  throne  of  France.  But  this  was  not 
to  take  place  till  their  age  of  consent,  when,  if  they  should 
refuse  to  make  such  i*enunciation,  their  claim  was  to  remain, 
and  rigid  to  he  done  to  them  therein  ;  but,  in  return,  the  release 
made  by  Philip  of  Navai're  and  Champagne  was  to  be  null. 
In  the  mean  time,  he  was  to  hold  the  government  of  France, 
Navarre,  and  Champagne,  receiving  homage  of  vassals  in  all 
these  countries  as  governor ;  saving  the  right  of  a  male  heir 
to  the  late  king,  in  the  event  of  whose  birth  the  treaty  was 
not  to  take  effect.* 

1  Velly,  t.  vii.  p.  404.     For  a  more  pre-  -  [Note  XV.] 

cise  account  of  the  political  Jepentlence  ^  Hist,  de  Charles  !e  Mauvais,  par  S6- 

of  Lyons  and  its  district,  see  L'Art  de  cousse,  vol.  ii.  p.  2. 
verifier  les  Dates,  t.  ii.  p.  469. 


Fr.\.nce.  riiiLiP  V.  57 

This  convention  was  uijule  on  the  17th  of  July,  131G;  and 
on  the  1  Jtli  of  November  the  queen  l)rought  into  thi-  worhl  a 
son,  John  I.  (as  some  called  him),  who  died  in  four  days.^ 
The  conditional  treaty  was  now  become  absolute  ;  in  spirit,  at 
least,  if  any  cavil  might  be  raised  about  the  exi)ression ;  and 
Piiili[)  was.  by  his  own  agreement,  ])recluded  from  taking  any 
otiier  title  than  that  of  regent  or  governor,  until  tin-  princess 
Jane  should  attain  the  age  to  concur  in  or  disclaim  the  pro- 
visional contract  of  her  uncle.  Instead  of  this,  however,  he 
procured  himself  to  be  consecrated  at  Rheims ;  though,  on 
account  of  the  avowed  opposition  of  the  duke  of  Burgundy, 
and  even  of  his  own  brother  Cluu'les,  it  was  thought  prudent 
to  shut  the  gates  during  the  ceremony,  and  to  dispose  guards 
throuirhout  the  town.  Ui>on  his  return  to  Paris,  ,  ,  ,0,7 
an  assembly  composed  01  prelates,  barons,  and  bur- 
gesses of  that  city,  was  convened,  who  acknowledged  him  as 
their  lawful  sovereign,  and,  if  we  may  believe  an  historian, 
expressly  declared  that  a  woman  was  incapable  of  succeeding 
to  the  crown  of  France."'^  The  duke  of  Burgundy,  however, 
made  a  show  of  supporting  Ins  niece's  interests,  till,  tempted 
by  the  ]>rospect  of  a  marriage  with  the  daughter  of  Philip,  he 
shamefully  betrayed  her  cause,  and  gave  up  in  her  name,  for 
an  inconsiderable  pension,  not  only  her  disputed  claim  to  the 
wliole  nic^iiarchy,  but  her  unquestionable  right  to  2savarre  and 
Champagne.*  I  have  been  rather  minute  in  stating  these 
di'tails,  because  the  transaction  is  misrepresented  by  every 
historian,  not  excepting  those  who  have  written  since  the  pub- 
lication of  the  documents  which  illustrate  it.* 

In  this  contest,  every  way  memorable,  but  especially  on 
aeeoimt  of  that  which  s])rung  out  of  it.  the  exclusion  of  females 
from  tlie  throne  of  France  was  tirst  pultlicly  di>cussed.     The 

>  Ancient    writPiT.   Sii^niondi    UAU    U8  hlstorinn   of  this  inipnrt.int   poriod.     Pie 

(ix.  HH}.  do    not   cull    tlii"   infant   nny-  descrilx'S  tlie  assciiilily  nliicli   confirmed 

tlilnjr  tjiit  tlic  cliiM  wlio  vriu)  tolR'kinK;  IMiilip'n    possesfiion    of     the     crown;  — 

thi-   iniixim  of  liit<T   tinu-M,   ••  Ia-  roi   nc  quaniplurci   proccreH  ct  rcjrni  noliilcs  ac 

uicurt  paji."   WII.H   unknown.     I  sucficct,  majrnatcs  uni  cum  plcrisi|nt"  prii^latis  ct 

npT<Tthi-l<-M,  that  the   ctrict    hcroditary  bur(!c!n»il)us  I'ariHicnsi!'  civifatis. 
iiucci-dBion  WHH    U'ttcr  peco(fniz«Mi  Iwfore        ^  Hist,  dc  Charli-n  lo  .Manvaiw,  t.  ii.  p.  6. 

thiH    tinii!   than    Sinniondi    hi-re  ndniitit;  .lane,  and  lier  husliand  the  count  of  Kv- 

C'lnipan;   what    he    nayii    afterwarhi   of  a  n-ux.  recovered  Navarre,  after  thi'  death 

jieriod  very  little  later,  vol.  xi.  li.  of  I'liarli-s  the  Kair. 

-Tunc  etiiini   dw'lnnttuni  fuit,  qurMi  in         <Vellv.    who    jtlveH    B<?veral    proofs    of 

r«-(fiio  Francla-  niulier  non 'ucceilit.    Con-  diHln^fenuouhnens  in   thii  part  of  hli-tory, 

tin.      Oul.      Nnn^fi".    In    Sp|cile)flo    d"-  niutilaU'.i  the  treaty  of  lln-  17ih  of  .luly, 

Achery,   tore.   Hi.     Thin    monk,    witliout  ];jlli.  In  order  tocoiicenl  I'liillp  the  Long'* 

tnl<Mitji.    and    protmtily    without    private  breach  of  Ciith  townrdjf  hlii  uicci'. 
luformatiuD,   U   ttiu   itolu    coutcmpuniry 


58  PHILIP  V.  Chap.  I.  Part  I. 

French  writers  almost  unanimously  concur  in  asserting  that 
such  an  exclusion  was  built  upon  a  fundamental  maxim  of 
their  government.  No  written  law,  nor  even,  as  far  as  I 
know,  the  direct  testimony  of  any  ancient  writer,  has  been 
brought  forward  to  confii'm  this  position.  For  as  to  the  text 
of  the  Salic  law,  which  was  frequently  quoted,  and  has  indeed 
given  a  name  to  tliis  exclusion  of  females,  it  can  only  by  a 
doubtful  and  refined  analogy  be  considered  as  bearing  any 
relation  to  the  succession  of  the  crown.  It  is  certain  never- 
theless that,  from  the  time  of  Clovis,  no  woman  had  ever 
reigned  in  France ;  and  although  not  an  instance  of  a  sole 
heiress  had  occurred  before,  yet  some  of  the  Merovingian 
kings  left  daughters,  who  might,  if  not  rendered  incapable  by 
their  sex,  have  shared  with  their  brothers  in  partitions  then 
commonly  made.^  But,  on  the  other  hand,  these  times  were 
gone  quite  out  of  memory,  and  France  had  much  in  the 
analogy  of  her  existing  usages  to  reconcile  her  to  a  female 
reign.  Tlie  crown  resembled  a  great  fief;  and  the  great  fiefs 
might  universally  descend  to  women.  Even  at  the  consecra- 
tion of  Philip  himself,  Maud,  countess  of  Artois,  held  the 
crown  over  his  head  among  the  other  peers.-  And  it  was 
scarcely  beyond  the  recollection  of  persons  living  that  Blanche 
had  been  legitimate  regent  of  France  during  the  minority  of 
St.  Louis. 

For  these  reasons,  and  much  more  from  the  provisional 
treaty  concluded  between  Philip  and  the  duke  of  Burgundy, 
it  may  be  tairly  inferred  that  the  Salic  law,  as  it  was  called, 
was  not  so  fixed  a  principle  at  that  time  as  has  been  con- 
tended.   But  however  this  may  be,  it  received  at  the  accession 

1  The  treaty  of  Andely,  in  587,  will  be  This   unwise  dishonesty,  which  is  not 

found  to  afford  a  very  strong  presump-  without  parallel  in  more  private  causes, 

tion  that  females  were  at  that  time  ex-  not  only  ruined  his  pretensions  to  the 

eluded  from  reigning  in  France.     Gi'eg.  county  of  Artois,  but  produced  a  sentence 

Turon.  1.  ix.  of  forfeiture,  and  even  of  capital  punish- 

-  The  continuator  of  Nangis  says  indeed  ment,  against  himself.    See  a  pretty  good 

of  this,  de  quo  aliqui  indiguati  fuerunt.  account  of  Robert's  process  in  Velly,  t. 

But  these  were  probably  the  partisans  viii.  p.  262. 

of  her  nejihew  llobert,  who  had  been        Sismondi  (x.  44)  does  not  seem  to  be 

excluded  by  a  judicial  sentence  of  Philip  convinced    that     Robert  of  Artois   was 

IV.,  on  the  ground  that  the  right  of  rep-  guilty  of  forgery  ;  but  perhaps  he  is  led 

resentation  did  not  take  place  in  Artois  ;  away   by   his   animosity   against   kings, 

a  decision  considex'ed  by  many  as  unjust,  especially  those  of  the  house  of  Valois. 

Robert  subsequently  renewed  his  appeal  M.  Michelet  informs  us  (v.  30)  that  the 

to  the  court  of  Philip  of  Valois  ;  but,  deeds  produced  by  the  demoiselle  Divion, 

unhappily   for  himself,   yielded    to   the  on  which  Itobert  founded  his  claims,  are 

temptation  of  forging  documents  in  sup-  in  the  Tresor  des  Chartes,  and  palpable 

port  of  a  claim  which  seems  to  have  been  forgeries, 
at   least    plausible    without    such    aid. 


FinxcE.  PHILIP  OF  VALOIS.  59 

of  Philip  the  Long  a  sanction  which  subseqiu'iit  events  more 
thoiuiii:lily    eunlinued.     PhiUp    himself  leaving    only    three 
danghter.>,  his  brother  Cluu-les  mounted  the  throne;  chaiiosiv. 
and  uiHin  his  death  the  rule  was  so  unquestionably  ^.d.  1322. 
estabhshed,  that  his  only  daughter  was  excluded  by  pi.jijp  ^f 
the  count  of  Valois,  grandson  of  Philip  the  Bold.  Vaiois. 
This    prince    first    took    the    regency,  the   queen-  ■''■^- 1328. 
dowager  being  pregnant,   and.   ui)on   her  giving  birth   to  a 
daughter,  was  crowned    king.     No   competitor  or   opponent 
appeared    in   Fiimee  ;  but    one    more   I'ormidable    than    any 
whom  France  could  have  produced  was  awaiting  the  occasion 
to  j)rosecute  his  imagined  right  with  all  the  resources  ot"  valor 
and  genius,  and  to  carry  desolation  over  that  great  kingdom 
with  as  little  scruple  as  if  he  was  preferring  a  suit  before  a 
civil  tribunal. 

Fwnn  the  moment  of  Charles  IV.'s  death,  Edward  III.  of 
England  buoyed  himself  u[)  with  a  notion  of  his  claim  of 
title  to  the  crown  of  France,  in  right  of  his  mother  '^"i^ara  iii. 
Isabel,  sister  to  the  three  last  kings.  "We  can  have  no  hesita- 
tion in  condemning  the  injustice  of  this  pretension.  AVhether 
the  Salic  law  were  or  were  not  valid,  no  advantage  could  be 
gained  by  Edward.  Even  if  he  could  forget  the  express  or 
tacit  decision  of  all  France,  there  stood  in  his  way  Jane,  the 
daugiiter  of  Louis  X.,  three  of  Philip  the  Long,  and  one  of 
Charles  tiie  Fair.  Aware  of  this,  Edward  set  up  a  distinction, 
that,  although  females  were  excluded  from  succession,  the 
same  rule  did  not  apply  to  their  male  issue  ;  and  thus,  though 
his  mother  Isabel  could  not  herself  become  queen  of  France, 
she  might  transmit  a  title  to  him.  But  this  was  contrary  to 
the  commonest  rules  of  inheritance  ;  and  if  it  could  have  been 
regarded  at  all,  Jane  had  a  son,  afterwards  the  famous  king 
of  Navarre,  who  stood  one  degree  nearer  to  the  crown  thiui 
Edward. 

It  is  a-sserted  in  some  French  authorities  that  Edward  pre- 
ferrcil  a  claim  to  the  regency  immediately  after  tin-  decease 
of  Charles  the  Fair,  ami  that  the  States-General,  or  at  Ifast 
the  peers  of  France,  atijudged  that  dignity  to  Philip  de  Valois. 
Whi-ther  this  be  true  or  not,  it  is  clear  that  he  entertained 
|)n)ject.s  of  recovering  his  right  as  early,  though  his  youtii  and 
the  embarnissed  circumstances  of  his  govermueiit  tlin-w 
in>up<Mal)l<' ()b>taeles  in  the  way  of  their  execution.^  Ili-  did 
i  Letter  of  Edward  III.  adareciMil  to    certain  nobluii  and  townii  lu  tUc  Boutli  of 


60 


CLAIM  OF  EDWAED  III.        Chap.  I.  Part  I. 


liege  homage,  therefore,  to  Philip  for  Guienne,  and  for  sev- 
eral years,  while  the  aflfaii's  of  Scotland  engrossed  his  atten- 
tion, gave  no  sign  of  meditating  a  more  magnificent  enterprise. 
As  he  advanced  m  manhood,  and  felt  the  consciousness  of  his 
strength,  his  early  designs  grew  mature,  and  produced  a  series 
of  the  most  important  and  mteresting  revolutions  m  the 
fortunes  of  France.  These  will  form  the  subject  of  the 
ensuing  pages. 


France,  dated  March  28, 1328,  four  days 
before  the  birth  of  Charles  IV. 's  posthu- 
mous daughter,  intimates  this  resolution. 
Rymer,  vol.  iv.  p.  344  et  seq.  But  an 
instrument,  dated  at  Northampton  on 
the  16th  of  May,  is  decisive :  This  is  a 
procuration  to  the  bishops  of  Worcester 
and  Litchfield,  to  demand  and  take  pos- 
session of  the  kingdom  of  France,  "  in 
our  name,  which  kingdom  has  devolved 
and  appertains  to  us  as  to  the  right  heir." 
P.  3.54.  To  this  mission  archbishop 
Stratford  refers,  in  his  vindication  of 
himself  from  Edward's  accusation  of 
treason  in  1340 ;  and  informs  us  that  the 
two  bishops  actually  proceeded  to  France, 
though  without  mentioning  any  further 
particulars.  Novit  enim  qui  nihil  ignorat, 
quod  cum  qusestio  de  regno  Francise  post 
mortem  regis  CaroU,  fratris  serenissimse 
matris  vestrae,  in  parhamento  tunc  apud 
Northampton  celebrato,  tractata  discus- 
saque  fuisset  ;  quodque  idem  reguum 
Francise  ad  vos  hreretlitario  jure  extite- 
rat  legitime  devolutum ;  et  super  hoc 
fuit  ordinatum,  quod  duo  episcopi,  Wig- 
orniensis  tunc,  nunc  autem  Wintoniensis, 
ao  Coventriensis  et  Lichfeldensis  in  Fran- 
ciam  dirigerent  gressus  suos,  nomiueque 
vestro  regnum  Francise  vindicarent  et 
praedicti  PhilippideValesio  coronationem 
pro  viribus  im))edirent ;  qui  juxta  ordi- 
nationem  prseiUctam  legationem  iis  in- 
junctam  tunc  assumentes,  gressus  suos 
versus  Franciam  direxerunt ;  quae  qui- 
dem  legatio  maximam  guerrae  prassentis 
materiaui  miuistravit.  Wilkins,  Concilia, 
t.  i   p.  664. 

There  is  no  evidence  in  Rymer's  Foe- 
dera  to  corroborate  Edward's  supposed 
claim  to  the  regency  of  France  upon  the 


death  of  Charles  IV. ;  and  it  is  certainly 
suspicious  that  no  appointment  of  am- 
bassadors or  procurators  for  this  purpose 
should  appear  in  so  complete  a  collection 
of  documents.  The  French  historians 
generally  assert  this,  upon  the  authority 
of  the  continuator  of  WiUiam  of  Nangis, 
a  nearly  contemporary,  but  not  always 
well-informed  writer.  It  is  curious  to 
compare  the  four  chief  English  historians. 
Rapin  affirms  both  the  claim  to  the  re- 
gency on  Charles  TS^.'s  death,  and  that 
to  the  kingdom  after  the  birth  of  his 
daughter.  Carte,  the  most  exact  his- 
torian we  have,  mentions  the  latter,  and 
is  silent  as  to  the  former.  Hume  passes 
over  both,  and  intimates  that  Edward 
did  not  take  any  steps  in  support  of  his 
pretensions  in  1328.  Henry  gives  the 
supposed  trial  of  Edward's  claim  to  the 
regency  before  the  States-General  at  great 
length,  and  makes  no  allusion  to  the 
other,  so  indisputably  authenticated  in 
Rymer.  It  is,  I  think,  most  probable 
that  the  two  bishops  never  made  the 
formal  demand  of  the  throne  as  they  were 
directed  by  their  instructions.  Stratford's 
expressions  seem  to  imply  that  they  did 
not. 

Sismondi  does  not  mention  the  claim 
of  Edward  to  the  regency  after  the  death 
of  Charles  IV.,  though  he  supposes  his 
pretensions  to  have  been  taken  into  con- 
sideration by  the  lords  and  doctors  of 
law,  whom  he  asserts,  following  the  con- 
tinuator of  AVilUam  of  Nangis,  to  have 
consulted  together,  before  Philip  of  Valois 
took  the  title  of  regent.  (Vol.  x.  p.  10.) 
Michelet,  more  studious  of  effect  than 
minute  in  details,  makes  no  allusiou  to 
the  subject. 


FR.VSCE.  HIS  WAR   IX   FKAXCE.  61 


PART   II. 

War  of  EJwTinl  ITT.  in  France  —  Ciiuses  of  liis  Success  —  Civil  Disturhnnces  of 
Fnince — IVaco  of  Br»?ti|/riii  —  its  interprotatiou  cousidereJ—  Charles  V.  —  Ke- 
newiil  of  the  War  —  Charleis  VI.  —  his  .Minority  and  In.«jinity  —  Civil  Dissensions 
of  the  I'arties  of  Orleans  and  Rnrjrnuilv  —  A.s.sassination  of  both  these  Princes 

—  Intri;;ues  of  their  I'artie.s  with  Kuvtland  under  Henry  IV.  —  Henry  V.  invades 
France  —  Treaty  of  Troves  —  !»tJitf  of  France  in    the  first  Ye.ai-s  of  Charles  VII. 

—  I'n>i;rt'ss   and   subse'iuent   decline   of   the   Kniflish    Arms  —  their   Kspulsion 
from  France  —  Chanfp?  in  the  Political  Constitution  —  Louis  XI. — his  Character 

—  litacues  formed  apiiust  him — Charles  Duke  of  Burgundy — his  Prosperity 
and  Fall  —  Louis  oht-iins  possession  of  Burgundy  — his  Death  —  Charles  VIII.  — 

—  Acijuisition  of  Britany. 

No  w;ir  had  broken  out  in  Europe,  since  the  foil  of  the 
Roman  Kinijire,  so  mcnioraljle  as  that  of  Edward  ,.. 

T I  r  II-  •  T-1  11  \\  ar  of 

JH.  and  Ins  successors  against  i  ranee,  whether  we  Edward  iii. 
consider  its  duration,  its  oltject,  or  the  magnitude '"  *"'"'''^' 
and  variety  of  its  events.  It  was  a  struggle  of  one  hundred 
and  twenty  years,  interrupted  but  once  by  a  regular  pacilica- 
tiftn.  wheiv  the  most  ancient  and  exten,-;ive  dominion  in  the 
civilized  world  was  the  jirize,  twice  lo.<t  and  twice  recovered, 
in  tlie  C(jn(lict,  while  individual  courage  was  wrought  up  to 
that  high  pitch  wliieh  it  can  seldom  dL-^play  since  the  regulari- 
ty of  muclcrn  tactics  has  chastised  its  enthusiasm  and  levelled 
its  di.-linciiuiis.  Tix-re  can  Ix'  no  occasion  to  dwell  upon  the 
events  of  this  war,  which  are  familiar  to  almost  every  I'eader : 
it  is  rather  my  aim  to  develop  and  arrange  those  cireum- 
stances  which,  when  rightly  understood,  give  the  clue  to  its 
variou.s  changes  of  fortune. 

France  wa.s,  even  in  the  fourteenth  century,  a  kingdom  of 
such  extent  and  compactness  of  fignn\  such  p()|)U-  causes  of 
hition   and   resources,  and  tilled  with   .so  .-pirited  ji '""""fcess. 
nobility,  that  the    very  idea  of   subjugating  it   liv  a  foreign 
force  must   have  seemed  the  most  extravagant  dream  of  am- 
bition.*    Yet,  in  the  course  of  aljout  tweniy  years  of  war, 

'  The    f)Ope   (Beni-'Uct    Xll.)   wrote   a  were  very  suli.servient  to  France.     Cleiii- 

vtmnit  lett.-r   to   tvlwanl   (.Mandj.    1340),  ent  VI..  as  well   as   his  predree.ssur,  Heii- 

dlMUadin);  him  fnini  tiikini;  the  title  anii  edict     XII.,     threatened     H^luard      uilli 

nri f    Franie,   an<l    (Miintiiii;  out    the  spiritual  arms.      U> r,   t.  v.  |>.  H.^  nnil 

lni|i<>*>-ll'ility  of  hU  ever  hUi'ceeillnK-      I  4*1-').      It    n'<|niiTd 'Kilwiml's    spirit    and 

linve  no  ilniiht  hut  tluit  this  wiut  the  lom-  sti-adiness  to  dexpix'  there  menaces.    But 

mou  o|iluloii.     But  the   ArJi^uou    poped  the   liuic    wUeu    they    were    terrlblu   to 


62  EDWARD  III.  AND  THE  BLACK  PRINCE.    Chap.  I.  Part  II. 

this  mighty  nation  was  reduced  to  the  lowest  state  of  exhaus- 
tion, and  dismembered  of  considerable  provinces  by  an  igno- 
minious peace.  What  was  the  combination  of  political  causes 
which  brought  about  so  strange  a  I'evolution,  and,  though  not 
reahzing  Edward's  hopes  to  their  extent,  redeemed  them  from 
the  imputation  of  rashness  in  the  judgment  of  his  own  and 
succeeding  ages  ? 

The  first  advantage  which  Edward  III.  possessed  m  this 
„  contest  was  derived  fx'om  the  splendor  of  his  per- 

Character  of  i  -n  • 

Edward  in.  soual  character  and  irom  the  still  more  emment 
and  his  son.  yj^tues  of  his  SOU.  Besides  prudence  and  mihtary 
skill,  these  great  princes  were  endowed  with  qualities  peculiar- 
ly fitted  for  the  times  in  which  they  lived.  Chivah-y  was  then 
in  its  zenith ;  and  in  all  the  virtues  which  adorned  the  knight- 
ly character,  in  courtesy,  munificence,  gallantry,  in  all  deli- 
cate and  magnanimous  feelings,  none  were  so  conspicuous  as 
Edward  III.  and  the  Black  Prince.  As  later  princes  have 
boasted  of  being  the  best  gentlemen,  they  might  claim  to  be 
the  prowest  knights  in  Europe  —  a  character  not  quite  dis- 
similar, yet  of  more  high  pretension.  Their  court  was,  as 
it  were,  the  sun  of  that  system  which  embraced  the  valor  and 
nobility  of  the  Christian  world  ;  and  the  respect  which  was 
felt  for  their  excellences,  while  it  drew  many  to  their  side, 
mitigated  in  all  the  rancor  and  ferociousness  of  hostility. 
This  war  was  like  a  great  tournament,  where  the  combatants 
fought  indeed  a  outrance,  but  with  all  the  courtesy  and  fiiir 
play  of  such  an  entertainment,  and  almost  as  much  for  the 
honor  of  their  ladies.  In  the  school  of  the  Edwards  were 
formed  men  not  inferior  in  any  nobleness  of  disposition  to 
their  masters  —  Manni  and  the  Captal  de  Buch,  Knollys  and 
Calverley,  Chandos  and  Lancaster.  On  the  French  side, 
especially  after  Du  Guesclin  came  on  the  stage,  these  had 
rivals  almost  equally  deserving  of  renown.  If  we  could  for- 
get, what  never  should  be  forgotten,  the  wretchedness  and 
devastation  that  fell  upon  a  great  kingdom,  too  dear  a  price 
for  the  display  of  any  hei'oism,  we  might  count  these  English 
wars  in  France  among  the  brightest  periods  in  history. 

Philip  of  Valois,  and  John  his  son,  showed  but  poorly  in 
Ch.ariicter  of  comparison  with  their  illustrious  enemies.  Yet 
and'j'ohn!       they  both   had   considerable   virtues ;    they  were 

piTjices  was  rather  passed  by ;  and  the    out  his  reign,  with  admirable  fimmess 
Holy  See  never  ventured  to  provoke  tlie    and  temper, 
king,  who  treated  the  chm-ch,  through- 


France. 


RESOURCKS  OF  EDWARD  III. 


G;} 


brave.^  jii>t,  liberal,  and  tbe  latter,  in  particular,  of  un- 
shaken tidelitv  to  his  word.  But  neither  was  beloved  l)v 
his  subjeets ;  tlie  misirovernment  and  e\tt)rtion  of  their  pred- 
ecessors duriuLT  halt'  a  century  had  alienated  the  public 
mind,  and  rendered  their  own  taxes  and  debasement  of  the 
coin  intoleral)le.  Philip  was  made  by  misfortune,  John  by 
nature,  suspieious  and  austere ;  and  althouji^h  their  most 
\-ioIent  acts  seem  never  to  have  wanted  absolute  justice,  yet 
they  were  so  ill-conducted,  and  of  so  arbitrary  a  complexion, 
that  they  greatly  impaired  the  reputation,  as  well  as  interests, 
of  these  monarclis.  In  the  execution  of  Clisson  under  Philip, 
in  that  of  the  Connetable  d'Eu  un(h>r  John,  and  still  more  in 
that  of  Harcourt,  even  in  the  imprisonment  of  tlie  kinjr  of 
Navarre,  though  every  one  of  these  might  have  been  guilty 
of  treasons,  tiiere  were  circumstances  enough  to  exasperate 
the  disatiected,  and  to  strengthen  the  party  of  so  politic  a 
competitor  as  Edward. 

Next   to  the  personal  qualities  of  the  king  of   England, 
his  resources  in  this  war  must  be  taken  into  the  Resources 
account.      It    was    after    long    hesitation    that    he  of  tjif  kinf? 
assumed  the  title  and  arms  of  France,  from  which,  °     "''' ''" 
unless  n]K)n  the  best  terms,  he  coidd  not  recede  without  loss 
of   h(jnor.'^     In  the  mean  time  he  strengthened  himself  l)y 


•  The  bravery  of  Philip  is  not  ques- 
tioned. Hut  a  Fn'iirli  lii.-tiiri;in.  in  orJer, 
I  liiippo^.  to  enliunre  this  (jualitv,  lia.s 
jin"*uMU'<l  to  violate  truth  in  an  extraor- 
dinary manner.  The  rhallenfre  sent  by 
E-lwanl.  offering  to  decide  liis  claim  to 
the  kingdom  t)y  single  combat,  is  well 
known.  Certainly  it  conveys  no  imputa- 
tion on  the  king  of  Krnnre  to  have  de- 
clined this  unfair  proposjil.  Hut  Velly 
luis  r>'pn-seiit<-d  him  as  accepting  it,  on 
conditiiin  that  f^-lwapl  would  stake  the 
cnjwn  of  Kn^land  agiiinst  that  of  France  ; 
an  interjxilation  which  may  Ihj  truly 
called  auilacii>us,  since  not  a  word  of  thin 
Is  in  i'hilip's  lett<'r,  preserved  in  Ilymcr, 
which  the  hUtorian  had  U-fore  hix  eyes, 
and  actuallv  quotes  u|i<in  the  ocouiion. 
Ht't.  d.-  Kra'nc...  t.  viii.  p.  ;iK2. 

'  The  first  instrument  in  which  Rl- 
«.ird  di^.illows  the  tith?  of  I'hilip  is  hi."! 
"■•.rn.iilion  witli  the  emjieror  l/.uis  of 
ll.n.iria,  wh<-n-in  hi-  calls  him  nunc  pro 
reg."  Kninconim  m-  g<-renteni.  The  djit« 
of  fhl«  i«  August  '2<>.  1337,  yet  on  the 
"■  -ame  month  another  instru- 

■  Idm   the    title  of  king;  and 

III.  -..,,1.  ...  urs  in  sul»M.<|uent  inslanci-s. 
At  length  we  liave  nu  luslrument  of  pro- 


curation to  the  duke  of  Bmbant.  Oc- 
tober V,  13137,  empowering  him  to  take 
possession  of  the  crown  of  France  in  the 
name  of  Edward  ;  attendentes  inclitiim 
regnum  Fninciw  ad  nos  fore  jure  succcs- 
sionis  legitime  devolutum.  Another  of 
the  same  date  appoints  the  .said  duke  his 
vicar-general  and  lieutenant  of  France. 
The  king  a,«sumed  in  this  commission 
the  title  Kex  Francia;  et  Augliio ;  in 
other  instruments  he  calls  himself  Ke.x 
Angliif  et  Fninciie.  It  was  necessary  to 
obviate  the  jealousy  of  the  Kiiirlish.  who 
di<l  not.  in  that  age,  admit  the  |)reci'ilciico 
of  Franco.  Accordingly,  Kdwanl  had 
two  grt'at  seals  on  which  the  two  king- 
doms were  named  in  a  dilfen'nt  order. 
Hut,  in  the  royal  arms,  tho.se  of  Franco 
were  always  in  the  lirst  quarter,  as  they 
continued  to  be  until  the  accession  of 
the  hfiuse  of  Hrunswick. 

I'robably  FMward  111.  would  not  havo 
enl<Tcd  into  the  war  merely  <in  account 
of  his  cl;iiui  to  the  crown.  He  had  liis- 
piites  with  I'hilip  about  (iuienne;  and 
that  prince  had,  rather  unjuslillably, 
als-ttiMl  |{ob<-rt  llrm-e  in  ,'^collaiid.  I  am 
n<it  inclineil  to  lay  any  material  stn-sii 
ujiun  the  iuntigntiun  of  Kubert  of  Artol<. 


64  THE  ENGLISH  ARMIES.        Ch.vp.  I.  Part  II. 

alliances  with  the  emperor,  with  the  cities  of  Flanders,  and 
with  most  of  the  princes  in  the  Netherlands  and  on  the 
Rhme.  Yet  I  do  not  know  that  he  profited  much  by  these 
conventions,  since  he  met  with  no  success  till  the  scene  of 
the  war  was  changed  from  the  Flemish  frontier  to  Normandj 
and  Poitou.  The  troops  of  Hamault  alone  were  constantly 
distinguished  in  his  service.-' 

But  his  intrinsic  strength  was  at  home.  England  had 
been  growing  in  riches  since  the  ^vise  government  of  his 
gi'andtather,  Edward  I.,  and  through  the  market  opened  for 
her  wool  with  the  manufacturing  towns  of  Flanders.  She 
was  tranquil  within  ;  and  her  northern  enemy,  the  vScotch, 
had  been  defeated  and  quelled.  The  parliament,  after  some 
sUght  precautions  against  a  very  probable  effect  of  Edward's 
conquest  of  France,  the  reduction  of  their  own  island  into  a 
province,  entered,  as  warmly  as  improvidently,  into  his  quar- 
rel. The  people  made  it  their  own,  and  grew  so  intoxicated 
with  the  victories  of  tliis  war,  that  for  some  centuries  the  in- 
justice and  folly  of  the  enterprise  do  not  seem  to  have  struck 
the  gravest  of  our  countrymen. 

There  is,  indeed,  ample  room  for  national  exultation  at  the 

names  of  Crecy,  Poitiers,  and  Azincourt.     So  gi'eat 

of^the""''*      '^vas  the  disparity  of  numbers  upon  those  famous 


English  days,  that  we  cannot,  with  the  French  historians, 

attribute  the  discomfiture  of  their  hosts  merely  to 
mistaken  tactics  and  too  impetuous  valor.  They  yielded 
rather  to  that  intrepid  steadiness  m  danger  which  had  already 
become  the  characteristic  of  our  English  soldiers,  and  which, 
during  five  centuries,  has  insured  their  superiority,  whenever 
ignorance  or  infatuation  has  not  led  them  into  the  field.     But 

1  Michelet  dwells   on    the    advantage  "Tine  tactique  nouvelle,"  M.  Miohelet 

which  Edward  gained  by  the  commerce  afterwards   very   well    observes    (p.   81), 

of  England  with   Flanders  :    "  Le  secret  "  sortait  de  Tetat  nouveau  de  la  societe  ; 

des  batailles   de   Crecy,  de  Poitiers,  est  ce  n'etait  pas  un  oeuvre  de  genie,  ni  de 

aux  comptoirs  des  marchands  de  Londres,  reflexion.     Edouard   III.   n'etait  ni   ua 

de  Bordeaux,  et  de  Bourges  "  (vol.  v.  p.  Gustave  Adolphe  ni  un  Frederic  II.     II 

6).     France  had  no  internal  trade ;  the  avait   employe    les    fantassins   faute    de 

roads  were  dangerous  on  account  of  rob-  cav-aliers.     ...     La  hataille  de  Crecy 

bers,  and  heavy  tolls  were  to  be  paid ;  reveilla  un   secret  dont   personne  ne  se 

fiscal  officers  had  replaced    the   feudal  doutait,   Timpuissance    militaire    de  ee 

lords.      The  value   of   money   wa.s   per-  monde   feodal,   qui   s'etait    cru    le    seul 

petually  varying  far  more  than  in  Eng-  monde  militaire."     Courtray  might  have 

land.     (Id.  p.  12.)     Certainly  the  com-  given  some  suspicion  of  this :  but  Cour- 

parative  pros))erity  of  the  latter  country  tray  was  much  less  of  a  "  bataille  rangee  " 

supplied    Edward   with    the    .«inews    of  than  Crecy. 
war.     France  could  not  afford  to  main- 
tain a  well-appointed  infantry. 


Fraxce.  coxrrriox  of  France.  Oo 

these  victorie.*,  ami  the  quahtics  that  secured  them,  must 
chit-fly  he  ascrihed  to  the  freedom  of  our  constitution,  and  to 
the  su|ierior  condition  of  tlie  ])coi)h\  Not  the  noliihty  of 
Euirland,  not  the  feudal  tenants  won  the  battles  of  Crecy  and 
Poitiers  ;  for  these  were  fully  matched  in  the  ranks  of  France  ; 
but  the  yeomen  wlio  dn-w  the  bow  with  strontr  and  stcadv 
arms,  accustomed  to  use  it  in  their  native  flelds,  and  rendered 
fearless  by  personal  competence  and  civil  freedom.  It  is  well 
known  tliat  eaeh  of  the  tin-ee  great  victories  was  due  to  our 
arcliers.  who  were  chiefly  of  the  middle  class,  and  attached, 
according  to  the  system  of  tliat  age,  to  the  kniglits  and  squires 
who  Ibught  in  heavy  armor  with  the  lance.  Even  at  the 
batth'  of  Poitiers,  of  whicii  our  country  seems  to  have  the 
lea<t  right  to  boast,  since  the  greater  part  of  tlie  Bhick 
Prince's  small  army  was  composed  of  Gascons,  the  merit  of 
the  Englisli  bowmen  is  stronglv  attested  bv  Froissart.^ 

Yet  the  glorious  termination  to  which  Edward  was  enabled, 
at  least  for  a  time,  to  bring  th(i  contest,  was  ratlier  con<iition 
the  work  of  fortune  than  of  valor  and  prudence,  of  France 
Until    tlie    battle    of    Poitiers    lie    had    made    nobanieof 
l»rogress  towards  the  couipiest  of  France.     That  ''o't'Ts- 
country  was  too  vast,  and  his  army  too  small,  for  such  a  rev- 
ohition.     The  victory  of  Crecy  gave  him  nothing  but  Cahiis  ; 
a    |)ost   of  considerable   inqxirtance   in    war   and   peace,  but 
rather  ada|)ted  to  annoy  than  to  subjugate  the  kingdom.     But 
at    Poitiers    he  obtained   the   greatest  of  prizes,  by  taking 
prisoner  tin;  king  of  France,     Not  only  the  love  of  freedom 
teiiq)ted  that  prince  to  ransom  himself  by  the  utmost  sacrifices, 
but  his  cajitivity  left  France  defenceless,  and  seemed  to  anni- 
hilate   the  monarchy   itself.     The   government   was    alreadv 
odious  ;  a  spirit  wjis  awakened   in   the   people  which  might 

'  An  vmy  dire,  1m   nrrhiv   d'Aturlc-  "  Par  un  clTort  <lo  lanoo  ct  <IY'('U, 

t<Tre  liiNoicnt  ;V  li-urs  ircni  (fmiit  uttiii-  ronf|Ui'-nint  tdiis  sex  cniicniis, 

tji({p.     f'lir  il."  tiroypiit  taut  (•.•<|M'NH<.Mii<'iit,  Y  i  urbiik'ntit'is  ui  fu  uiiri ;  " 

fjiU"    ]<•*    Kniiir'ii''    '"■    i^avoyi-nt    clfqiiel 

cohU;   ciifi-nilp'.   "lu'ilc   iif   fiidM-nt   ron-  qiiotoil  by  Ilourher  in  liU  tnin»lntlon  of 

nuyvU    lie    tniyt ;  i-t   M'avan^oycnt   Utiin-  '  II  ConSDlaNpilcl  Maro,"  p.  51S.      Kvcii  Hio 

jour*  (•<••<  Angliii".  vt  |M-til  i  petit  enquc-  lontr-liow  initrlit   iiiriir   tliis  rcnciirc  :  or 

r<i>ctif  t<>rm.     I'art  I.  r.  1(52.  any   xvi-apnn    in    wliicli    tho   (MiniliatjiiitH 

It  ii4  liy  an  imM  >iTiT»lKlit  tliiit  Si/<inon<li  foinilit  nniiiii-i.     Hut   if  wu   lonk  at  tlie 

li.i-   'aiil  (X.  Ztri),  ••[,<••(  Anirlnld  /■taicnt  plati'-annor  of  the  fiflccntli  rcntiwy.  it 

II.  ■ 'iitiini/-«  i  w  wrrir  MiiiK  ifWM- lie /Vir-  may  wi'iu   that  a  kni>.'lit   lia.l   not   iiiiirli 

'/■'  '  '•     ■     Till"  (•ro"«-t)ow  waj*  liMtkcil  ii|Min  to  tioa-t  of  tin'  ilanpT  to  wliirli   In-  i-x- 

a-    1   .».  i...,ii   unworthy  of  n  liniTc  Minn  :  po-cl  hinmolf, oHpwially  wlicii  cnoouiittT- 

u   pnjii  h.  <•   whlrli   nftfrwnniK   prt-valli-il  ing  infantry, 
with   r\-i'\H-ri   to  (Iri'-annx.     A  roiiiunrcr 
prnlw*  tin-  (•mp<rror  Connwl, 

Vol..    I.  0 


66  CONDITION  OF  FRANCE.       Chap.  I.  Part  II. 

seem  hardly  to  belong  to  the  fourteenth  century;  and  the 
convulsions  of  our  own  time  are  sometimes  strongly  paralleled 
by  those  which  succeeded  the  battle  of  Poitiers.  Already  the 
States- General  had  established  a  fundamental  principle,  that 
no  resolution  could  be  passed  as  the  opinion  of  the  whole 
unless  each  of  the  three  orders  concurred  in  its  adoption.^ 
The  right  of  levying  and  of  regulating  the  collection  of  taxes 
was  recognized.  But  that  assembly,  which  met  at  Paris 
immediately  after  the  battle,  went  far  greater  lengths  in  the 
reform  and  control  of  government.  From  the  time  of  Philip 
the  Fair  the  abuses  natural  to  arbitrary  power  had  harassed 
the  people.  There  now  seemed  an  opportunity  of  redress ; 
and  however  seditious,  or  even  treasonable,  may  have  been 
the  motives  of  those  who  guided  this  assembly  of  the  States, 
especially  the  famous  Marcel,  it  is  clear  that  many  of  their 
reformations  tended  to  liberty  and  the  public  good.^  But  the 
tumultuous  scenes  which  passed  in  the  capital,  sometimes 
heightened  into  civil  war,  ueces.sarily  distracted  men  from 
the  common  defence  against  Edward.  These  tumults  were 
excited,  and  the  distraction  increased,  by  Cliarles  king  of 
Navarre,  surnamed  the  Bad,  to  whom  the  French  writers 
have,  not  perhaps  unjustly,  attributed  a  character  of  unmixed 
and  inveterate  malignity.  He  was  grandson  of  Louis  Hutin, 
by  his  daughter  Jane,  and,  if  Edward's  pretence  of  claiming 
through  females,  could  be  admitted,  was  a  nearer  heir  to  the 
crown ;  the  consciousness  of  which  seems  to  have  suggested 
itself  to  his  depraved  mind  as  an  excuse  for  his  treacheries, 
though  he  could  entertain  very  little  prospect  of  asserting  the 
claim  against  either  contending  party.  John  had  bestowed 
his  daughter  in  marriage  on  the  king  of  Navarre ;  but  he 
very  soon  gave  a  proof  of  his  character  by  procuring  the 
assassination  of  the  king's  favorite,  Chaides  de  la  Cerda.  An 
irreconcileable  enmity  was  the  natural  result  of  this  crime. 
Charles  became  aware  that  he  had  offended  beyond  the  possi- 
bility of  forgiveness,  and  that  no  letters  of  pardon,  nor  pre- 
tended reconciliation,  could  secure  him  from  the  king's  resent- 
ment. Thus,  impelled  by  guilt  into  deeper  guilt,  he  entered 
into, alliances  with  Edward,  and  fomented  the  seditious  spirit 
of  Paris.    Eloquent  and  insinuating,  he  was  the  favorite  of  the 

1  Ordonnances  des  Rois  de  France,  t.  ii.    but  it  arose  indispensably  out  of  my  ar- 

2  I  must  refer  the  reader  onward  to  the    rangement,  and  prevented  greater  incon- 
next  chapter  for  more  information  on  this     veniences. 

subject.    This  separation  is  inconvenient, 


Fr.\xce. 


AFTER  THE  BATTLE  OF  POITIERS. 


('.7 


people,  who-:e  {rrievaiices  he  affected  to  pity,  and  with  whose 
leaders  he  intrigued.  As  his  paternal  inheritance,  lie  pos- 
sessed the  county  of  Evreux  in  Nonnnndy.  The  proxiniitv 
of  this  to  Paris  ci'eated  a  formidable  diversion  in  favor  of 
Kflward  III.,  and  connected  the  English  garrisons  of  the 
^s'orth  with  those  of  Poitou  and  Guienne. 

There  is  no  atlliction  which  did  not  fall  upon  France  during 
this  miserable  period.  A  foreign  enemy  was  in  tlu'  hcait  of 
the  kingdom,  the  king  a  prisoner,  the  capital  in  sedition,  a 
treacherous  jirince  of  the  blood  in  arms  against  the  sovereiLrn 
authority.  Famine,  the  sure  and  terrible  companion  of  war, 
for  several  years  desolated  the  country.  In  1348  a  pestilence, 
the  most  extensive  and  unsparing  of  which  we  have  any 
memorial,  visited  France  as  well  as  the  rest  of  Europe,  and 
consummated  the  work  of  hunger  and  the  swoi-d.^  Tlie  com- 
panies of  adventure,  mercenary  troops  in  the  service  of  John 
or  P^dward.  finding  no  immediate  occupation  after  the  truce 
of  1.!.j7,  scattered  themselves  over  the  country  in  search  of 
pillage.  No  force  existed  sufficiently  powerful  to  check  these 
I'oblyers  in  their  career.  Undismayed  by  superstition,  thev 
couii)elled  the  pope  to  redeem  himself  in  Avignon  by  the 
payment  of  forty  thousand  crowns.^  France  was  the  jjassive 
victim  of  their  license,  even  after  the  pacification  concluded 
with  England,  till  some  were  diverted  into  Italy,  ami  otheis 
led  Iiy  Du  Guesclin  to  the  war  of  Castile.     Impatient  of  this 


1  A  full  aooomit  of  the  rnvrifres  made 
hy  this  niMiinnililo  plnf^ic  nitiy  lie  found 
in  Muftfo  Vill.'iiii.  tlic  MK-onii  of  tliat 
family  wlio  wrote  tlio  liistory  of  Florence. 
Ilii  lirother  aricl  precli-<i-<,-inr.  .lolin  A'il- 
luni.  wiu  liiiHM'lf  II  viitini  to  it.  Ttie 
iliwa.ae  iH'pin  in  the  Levant  aliout  1.34t) ; 
from  whenee  Italian  tnident  brought  it 
to  Sirily.  I'i<a.  and  fiinoa.  In  1*48  it 
pnx.iw-d  the  Alpn  and  cpn-ad  over  Kninee 
and  Spain:  in  the  next  jear  it  readied 
Ilritain.  and  in  1.3.VI  lai.l  wnxte  (lennany 
and  other  nortliern  »tate»  ;  l/ixtini;  gen- 
erally a)>out  fivf  months  in  earh  roiintrv. 
At  Floreiiri-  more  than  thri'i'  out  of  five 
die<I.  MuniUiri,  .script.  Kernm  It^ilira- 
rum.  t.  xiv.  p.  12.  Tin-  (■torli-«  of  Ikw- 
mei-iii'K  Dfrnnii'nini-.  ax  \k  well  known,  are 
/nip|K,m.d  to  Im-  n-lat<-<l  hy  a  M<eiety  of 
Klon-ntlne  ladle*  nnd  (rentlemen  rerlreU 
to  thi'  rouiitry  dnrinK  tliiN  pe»tllenee. 

.\nollier  pe«tlliMief,  (inly  lenn  deBtriir- 
tivi-  flian  flie  fonrn-r.  wanted  h'lth  Kninre 
and  Kij^-laiid  in  1.3<!1.  SLmoiidi  liltt.rlv 
n-iii.irk-  'x.  342)  that   t..tMi-.ii  f.mr  anil 


five  millions  who  died  of  the  fonuer 
plaRUe  in  France  merely  diminished  the 
number  of  the  oppres.sed,  produeinR  no 
perceptible  effect.  Hut  tlii.<  i.>i  cxajrirer- 
ated.  The  jila^rue  caused  a  truce  of 
sevenl  months.  The  war  was  in  fact 
carried  on  with  less  vi)?or  for  .'^oine  years. 
It  is,  howevi-r,  by  no  means  uiilikily 
that  the  number  of  deathif  has  been  over- 
rated. Nothing  can  he  more  lon.se  than 
the  statistical  eviilence  of  mediieval 
writers.  Thus  30.(KW  are  said  to  have 
died  at  Narbouue.  (Michelet.  v.  SM.) 
Hut  had  Xarbonne  so  many  tn  lose  .'  .\t 
li'ast,  wriuld  not  tin-  di'jiopul.-ition  have 
been  out  of  all  proportion  t<i  iitbi-r  cities  .' 
■-  Froissart,  p.  1S7.  This  troop  nf  ban- 
ditti was  conuiianded  by  .\rnaud  de  Cer- 
Tole,  snrnanu'd  rAri'hiprctre,  from  a  ben- 
efice which,  although  a  layman,  hi'  poH- 
s<"SHed,  a<'cordin);  to  the  irrc;rularity  of 
those  a({es.  See  a  memoir  on  llie  life  of 
.\riiaud  de  Cervole,  in  the  tvvcnfy-tlftll 
volume  of  the  Academy  of  lii>cripti<ins. 


68  PEACE  OF  BRETIGNI.        Chap.  I.  Part  II. 

wretcliediiess,  and  stung  by  the  insolence  and  luxury  of  theii' 
lords,  the  peasantry  of  several  districts  broke  out 
into  a  dreadful  insurrection.  This  was  called  the 
Jacquerie,  from  the  cant  phrase  Jacques  Bonhomme,  applied 
to  men  of  that  class  ;  and  was  marked  by  all  the  circumstances 
of  horror  incident  to  the  rising  of  an  exasperated  and  unen- 
lightened populace.^ 

Subdued  by  these  misfortunes,  though  Edward  had  made 
Peace  of  but  slight  progrcss  towards  the  conquest  of  the 
Bretigm.  country,  the  regent  of  France,  afterwards  Charles 
v.,  submitted  to  the  peace  of  Bretigni.  By  this  treaty,  not  to 
mention  less  important  articles,  all  Guienne,  Gascony,  Poitou, 
A  D  1360  Saintonge,  the  Limousin,  and  the  Angoumois,  as 
well  as  Calais,  and  the  county  of  Pontliieu,  were 
ceded  in  full  sovereignty  to  Edward ;  a  price  abundantly  com- 
pensating his  renunciation  of  the  title  of  France,  which  was  the 
sole  concession  stipulated  in  return.  Every  care  seems  to 
have  been  taken  to  make  the  cession  of  these  provinces  com- 
plete. The  first  six  articles  of  the  treaty  expressly  sui'render 
them  to  the  king  of  England.  By  the  seventh,  John  and  his 
son    engaged   to    convey  within    a    year   from    the  ensuing 


1  The  second  continuator  of  Nangis,  a  must  add  that  the  celebrated  story  of  the 

monk  of  no  great  abilities,  but  entitled  six  citizens  of  Calais,  which  has  of  late 

to  notice  as  our  most  contemporary  his-  been  called  in  question,  receives  strong 

torian,  charges  the  nobility  with  spend-  confirmation  from  John  Villani,  who  died 

ing  the  money  raised  upon  the  people  by  very  soon  afterwards.    L.  xii.c.  96.    Frois- 

oppressive  taxes,  in  playing  at  dice,  "et  sart  of  cour.se  wrought  up  the  circum- 

alios  indeeentes  jocos."    D'Achery,  Spici-  stances   after  this   manner.     In  all  the 

legium,  t.  iii.  p.  114  (folio  edition).     All  coloring  of  his  history  he  is  as  great  a 

the  miseries  tliat  followed  the  battle  of  master  as  Livy,  and  as  little  observant 

Poitiers  he  .ascribes  to  bad  government  of  particular  truth.     M.  de  Brequigny, 

and  neglect   of   the   commonweal  :    but  almost  the  latest  of  those  excellent  an- 

especially  to  the  pride  and  luxury  of  the  ticjuaries  whose  memoirs  so  much  illus- 

nobles.     I  am  aware  that  this  writer  is  trate   the   French  Academy  of  Inscrip- 

biassed  in  fiivor  of  the  king  of  Navarre  ;  tions,  has  discussed  the  history  of  Calais, 

but  he  was  an  eye-witness  of  the  people's  and  particularly  this  remarkable  portion 

misery,  and  perhaps  a  less  exceptionable  of  it.    Mem.,  de  I'Academie  des  Inscrip- 

authority  tlian  Froissart,  whose  love  of  tions,  t.  i. 

p.igeantry  and  habits  of  feasting  in  the  Petrarch  has  drawn  a  lamentable  pic- 
castles  of  the  great  seem  to  have  produced  ture  of  the  state  of  France  in  1360,  when 
some  insensiliitity  towards  the  sufferings  he  paid  a  visit  to  Paris.  I  could  not 
of  the  lower  classes.  It  is  a  painful  cir-  believe,  he  says,  that  this  Wixs  the  same 
cumstance,  which  Froissart  and  the  con-  kingdom  which  I  had  once  seen  so  rich 
tinuator  of  Xangis  attest,  that  the  citizens  and  flourishing.  Nothing  presented  itself 
of  Calais,  more  interesting  than  the  com-  to  my  eyes  but  a  fearful  solitude,  an  ex- 
mon  heroes  of  history,  were  unrewarded,  treme  poverty,  lands  uncultivated,  houses 
and  begged  their  bread  in  mi.sery  tlirough-  in  ruins.  Even  the  neighborliood  of 
out  France.  Villaret  contradicts  this,  on  Paris  manifested  everywhere  marks  of 
the  authority  of  an  ordinance  which  he  destruction  and  conflagration.  The  streets 
has  .seen  in  their  favor.  But  that  was  are  deserted ;  the  roads  overgrown  with 
not  a  time  when  ordinances  were  very  weeds :  the  whole  is  a  vast  solitude, 
sure  of  execution.    ViU.  t.  ix.  p.  470.     I  Mem.  de  Petrarqvie,  t.  iii.  p.  541. 


France.  PEACE  OF  BRETIGXI.  G9 

!Midia<?lm:v-5  all  their  riu^hts  over  tliein,  and  especiallv  tho;JO 
of  .sovcreiufiity  ami  li'iidal  appeal.  Tlie  sauu'  wunls  arc  le- 
l)eateil  still  more  einpliatically  in  the  eleventh  and  Miinc 
other  artieles.  Tiie  twelfth  titipulates  the  exehan;j:c  of  nni- 
tual  renunciations;  hy  John,  of  all  riglit  over  the  ceded 
coinitries  ;  by  Edward,  of  liis  claim  to  the  throne  of  France. 
At  Calais  the  treaty  of  Breti;^ni  was  renewed  by  John,  wlio, 
as  a  prisoner,  had  I»cen  no  i)arty  to  the  former  compact,  with 
the  omis-ion  only  of  the  twclith  article,  respectinir  the  ex- 
change of  renunciations.  But  that  it  was  not  intemled  to 
waive  them  by  this  omission  is  aliundantly  manifest  by  instru- 
ment- of  liotii  the  kings,  in  which  reference  is  made  to  their  fu- 
ture interchangi's  at  Bruges,  on  the  feast  of  St.  Andrew,  lolil. 
And,  until  that  time  siiould  arrive,  Edward  promises  to  lay 
aside  the  title  and  arms  of  France  (an  engagement  which  he 
strictly  ke[)t^),  and  John  to  act  in  no  respect  as  king  or 
suzerain  over  the  ceded  provinces.  Finally,  on  ^'ovember 
15,  1301.  two  commissioners  are  appointed  by  Edward  to  re- 
ceive the  renunciations  of  the  king  of  France  at  Bruges  on 
the  ensuing  feast  of  St.  Andrew,-  and  to  do  whatever  might 
be  mutually  retpiired  by  virtue  of  the  treaty.  These,  how- 
ever, seem  to  have  been  withheld,  and  the  twelfth  article  of 
the  treaty  of  Bretigni  was  never  expressly  completed.  Bv 
nuitual  instruments,  executed  at  Calais,  October  21.  it  had 
been  declared  tiiat  the  sovereignty  of  the  ceded  provinces,  as 
well  a-  Edward's  right  to  the  crown  of  France,  should  remain 
as  before,  although  >uspended  as  to  its  exercise,  until  the  ex- 
change of  renunciations,  notwithstanding  any  words  of  present 
conveyance  or  relea-^e  in  the  treaties  of  Bretigni  and  Calais. 
And  another  pair  (»f  letters-patent,  dated  ()ctol)er  2(;,  contains 
tin-  flirni  of  renunciations,  which,  it  is  nuitually  declared, 
should  have  et!e<'t  by  virtue  of  the  present  letters,  in  case  one 
party  -hould  be  ready  to  exchange  such  renunciations  at  the 
time  and  placi-  a|ipointed,  and  the  other  sh(»uld  make  default 
therein.  These  instruments  executed  at  Calais  are  so  prolix, 
and  -o  stu<liou-ly  enveloped,  as  it  seems,  in  the  obscm-ity  of 
technical  huiguage,  that  it  is  dilHctdt  to  extract  their  precise 
itilenlion.  It  appears,  nenertheless,  that  whichever  party  was 
j)repan;d  to  pertorm  what  was  n-fpiired  of  him  at    liiiiges  on 

>  Rlwiiril  kItjxi  .Jolin  flii-  titio  of  KImk     \i.  ji,  'J17.     TIk'  tn-iity  wiin  h\„'ii<;\  Octo- 
of  KraiK-f  ill  .-III  lnj<friiiiiiMit  tii'iiriiii;  ilnU-     Imt  '21.     Id.  p.  Ulit. 
at  Caliib,  Oclolwr  '£i.  Vm.    K.\iiaT,  t.        2  Kyni.  t.  vl.  |).  SW 


70  PEACE  OF  BRETIGXI.         Chap.  I.  Part  II. 

November  30,  1361,  the  other  then  and  there  making  deiauh, 
would  acquire  not  only  what  our  lawyers  might  call  an 
equitable  title,  but  an  actual  vested  right,  by  virtue  of  the 
provision  in  the  letters-patent  of  October  26,  1360.  The  ap- 
pointment above  mentioned  of  Edward's  commissioners  on 
November  15,  1361,  seems  to  throw  upon  the  French  the 
burden  of  proving  that  John  sent  his  envoys  with  equally 
full  powers  to  the  place  of  meeting,  and  that  the  non-inter- 
change of  renunciations  was  owing  to  the  English  govern- 
ment. But  though  an  historian,  sixty  years  later  (Juvenal  des 
Ursins),  asserts  that  the  French  commissioners  attended  at 
Bruges,  and  that  those  of  Edward  made  default,  this  is 
certainly  rendered  improbable  by  the  actual  appointment  of 
commissioners  made  by  the  king  of  England  on  the  loth  of 
November,  by  the  silence  of  Charles  V.  after  the  recom- 
mencement of  hostilities,  who  would  have  rejoiced  in  so  good 
a  ground  of  excuse,  and  by  the  language  of  some  English 
instruments,  complaining  that  the  French  renunciations  were 
withheld.-^  It  is  suggested  by  the  French  authors  that  Ed- 
ward was  unwilling  to  execute  a  formal  renunciation  of  his 
claim  to  the  crown.  But  we  can  hardly  suppose  that,  in 
order  to  evade  this  condition,  which  he  had  voluntarily  im- 

1  It  appears  that,  among  other  alleged  of  sovereignty,  the  king  should  send  his 

infractions  of  the  treaty,   the  king  of  of  the  title  of  France.    Martenne,  Thes. 

France  had  received  appeals  from  Ar-  Anec.  t.  i.  p.  1487. 

magnac,  Albret,  and  other  nobles  of  Four  princes  of  the  blood,  or,  as  they 
Aquitaine,  not  long  after  the  peace.  For,  are  termed,  Seigneurs  des  Fleurdelys, 
in  February,  1.362,  a  French  envoy,  the  were  detained  as  hostages  for  the  due  ex- 
count  de  Tancarville,  being  in  England,  ecvition  of  the  treaty  of  Bretigni,  which, 
the  privy  council  presented  to  Edward  from  whatever  pretence,  was  delayed  for 
their  bill  of  remonstrances  against  this  a  considerable  time.  Anxious  to  obtain 
conduct  of  France ;  et  semble  an  conseil  their  liberty,  they  signed  a  treaty  at 
le  roy  d'Angleterre  que  considere  la  London  in  November,  1362,  by  which, 
fourme  de  la  ditte  paix,  que  tant  estoit  among  other  provisions,  it  was  stipulated 
honourable  et  proffitable  au  royaume  de  that  the  king  of  France  should  send 
France  et  4  toute  chretiente,  que  la  re-  fresh  letters,  under  his  seal,  conveying 
ception  desdittes  appellacions  n'a  mie  and  releasing  the  territories  ceded  by  the 
este  bien  faite.  ne  passee  si  ordenement,  peace,  without  the  clause  contained  in 
ne  i  si  lion  affection  et  amour,  comme  il  the  former  letters,  retaining  the  ressort : 
droit  avoir  este  fait  de  raison  parmi  I'ef-  et  que  en  ycelles  lettres  soit  expresse- 
fet  et  rintention  de  la  paix  et  ailliances  nient  compris  transport  de  la  souver- 
afferniees  et  entr'eux  semble  estre  moult  ainete  et  du  ressort,  &c.  Et  le  roi 
prejudiciables  et  contraires -i  I'onneur  et  d'Angleterre  et  ses  enfans  ferront  seni- 
a  Testat  du  roy  et  de  son  tils  le  prince  et  blablenient  autiels  renonciations,  sur  ce 
de  toute  la  maison  d'Angleterre,  et  pour-  q"il  doit  faire  de  sa  partie.  Rymer,  t.  vi. 
ra  estre  evidente  matiere  de  rebellion  des  p.  396.  This  treaty  of  London  was  never 
subgiez,  et  .-uissi  donner  tres-grant  oc-  ratified  by  the  French  government ;  but 
casion  d'enfrainrtrc  la  paix,  si  bon  re-  1  use  it  as  a  proof  that  Edward  imputed 
mcde  sur  ce  n'y  soit  mis  plus  hastive-  the  want  of  mutual  renunciations  to 
nient.  Upon  the  whole  they  conclude  France,  and  was  himself  ready  to  per- 
that  if  the  king  of  France  would  reijair  form  his  part  of  the  treaty. 
this  trespass,  and  send  his  renunciation 


Fr.\xce. 


PE.VCE  OF  BRETIGXI. 


71 


posed  upon  liiinself  by  the  treaties  of  Bretigni  and  Calais,  lie 
woiiM  have  left  his  title  to  the  pnninees  eeded  by  those  eoii- 
venliinis  inipertect.  lie  eeriaiiily  lU'enied  it  indeteasible,  and 
acted,  without  any  complaint  from  the  French  court,  as  the 
pert'eet  master  of  those  countries.  lie  created  his  son  prince 
of  A(iuitaine.  with  tlie  fullest  powei's  over  that  new  la-ineipal- 
itv,  holdinir  it  in  lief  of  the  crown  of  Enijjhuid  by  tlie  vearlv 
rent  of  an  ounce  of  gold.^  And  the  court  of  that  great 
prince  was  kept  for  several  years  at  Bordeaux. 

I  iiave  gone  something  more  than  usual  into  detail  as  to 
these  circumstances,  because  a  very  specious  account  is  given 
by  some  French  historians  and  antitpiaries  whicli  tends  to 
throw  the  bUuue  of  the  rupture  in  I'MS  U[)on  Edward  III.'- 
Untbunded  as  was  his  pretension  to  the  crown  of  France,  and 
actuated  jis  we  must  consider  him  by  the  most  ruinous  am- 
bition, his  character  was  unblemished  bv  ill  faith.  There  is 
no  apparent  cause  to  imj>ute  tlie  ravages  made  in  France  by 
soldiers  formerly  in  the  English  service  to  his  instigation,  nor 
any  ]troof  of  a  connection  with  the  king  of  Navarre  subse- 
quently to  the  peace  of  Bretigni.  But  a  good  lesson  may  be 
drawn  by  concpierors  from  the  change  of  fortune  that  befell 
Eilward  III.  A  long  warfare,  and  unexampled  success,  had 
procured  for  him  some  of  the  richest  provinces  of  France. 
Within  a  short  time  he  was  entirely  stri{)ped  of  them,  less 
through  any  particular  misconduct  than  in  consequence  of  the 
intrinsic  flillicuhy  of  |treserving  such  acipiisitions.  The  French 
were  ah«'ady  knit  together  as  one  people;  and  even   those 


I  Ilyni.  t.  vi.  p.  .'JS.")-3S9.  One  clause 
Is  n-iiiarkalik- :  I'^lwiinl  rfscrvex  to  hiiii- 
M'lf  tin-  ri;;lit  of  rreiitinB  the  pniviiicc  of 
A<|iiit:iiiirf  into  a  kiiiK'loiii.  So  hi;;li  wi-re 
till-  ii'itinn.-"  of  till'*  i;n-;it  inoiianli  in  an 
H'i<-  when  thi?  privilc^re  of  rriMtinif  new 
kiri^f'lxnit  Ha>  ili'eniel  to  iH'loni;  only  to 
the  pope  anil  the  enijHTor.  Ktiani  i>\  per 
noK  liiijii^uiixli  pniviiieiieail  n-;piliM  huno- 
ri"  tiniliini  et  fa-lij.'iiini  iin|M>steriini  cuh- 
linientnr:  <|uani  en-etionem  Cieieiicliiin 
p«T  iioK  i-x  tune  ii|i<M-ialiter  rcMTvainUfi. 

-  il>fi<li-»  Villaret  anil  other  liiKtoriiinx, 

*'  '    "  who  fi-<'l!<  anv  euriocjty  on  thin 

■  V  louHult  thriv    nienioirH    in 

■I '■  'I'-    \'  -l.-niy  of  In- 

-  ilier.  anil 
!•  1  aii(ii|na- 

ri<K  iiiiii<-,  hill  lliu  lliiril  with  niueli  lexri 
rontl'leiiee  anil  |Huixlon  than  the  other 
two.  in  eharv'in«  the  oini»Klon  n|>on  t-'A- 
wanl.     The  olx^Trnllonx  in  tlif  text  will 


i»erve,  I  hope,  to  repel  their  nrffunionts, 
whieh,  1  may  he  perniitteil  to  observe, 
no  Knirlisli  writer  has  hitherto  umler- 
t^ikeii  to  answer.  This  is  not  saiil  in 
onler  to  assume  any  praise  to  myself;  in 
faet.  I  liave  been  fruiileil.  in  a  jrivat  ile- 
(tn-e,  by  one  of  the  ailver.-ie  counsel,  .M. 
Ilonamy,  whose  statement  of  farts  is  very 
fair,  anil  makes  nie  suspect  a  little  that 
he  saw  tlie  weakness  of  liis  own  cause. 

The  authority  of  Christine  de  Tisan, 
a  contemporary  panej^yrist  of  the  French 
kinji,  is  not,  perhaps,  very  material  in 
such  a  question  ;  but  she  six-nis  wholly 
ignorant  of  this  supposeil  omission  on 
KilwariJ's  siile,  anil  puts  the  justice  of 
Charles  V.'s  war  on  a  very  ililferent 
basis  ;  namely,  that  treaties  not  con<lu- 
cive  to  the  public  interest  ou;{hl  not  to 
lie  ki-pt.  —  ColliMlion  lies  Menioin's,  t.  v. 
1>.  1;j7.  a  principle  more  often  aet<'it 
ujion  than  avowed  I 


72  RUPTURE  OF  THE  PEACE.     Chap.  I.  Part  II. 

whose  feudal  duties  sometimes  lead  them  into  the  field  against 
their  sovereign  could  not  endure  the  feeling  of  dismember- 
ment  from  the  monarchy,  "When  the  peace  of  Bretigni  was 
to  be  cai-ried  into  effect,  the  nobility  of  the  South  remon- 
strated against  the  loss  of  the  king's  sovereignty,  and  showed, 
it  is  said,  in  their  charters  granted  by  Charlemagne,  a  promise 
never  to  transfer  the  right  of  protecting  them  to  another. 
The  citizens  of  Rochelle  implored  the  king  not  to  desert 
them,  and  protested  their  readuiess  to  pay  half  their  estates 
in  taxes,  rattier  than  fall  under  the  power  of  England.  John 
with  heaviness  of  heart  persuaded  these  faithful  people  to 
comply  with  that  destiny  which  lie  had  not  been  able  to  sur- 
mount. At  length  they  sullenly  submitted  :  we  will  obey,  they 
said,  the  English  with  our  lips,  but  our  hearts  shall  never 
forget  their  allegiance.^  Such  unwilling  subjects  might  per- 
haps have  been  won  by  a  prudent  government ;  but  the  tem- 
per of  the  prince  of  Wales,  which  was  rather  stern  and 
arbitrary,  did  not  conciliate  their  hearts  to  his  cause.^  After 
the  expedition  into  Castile,  a  most  injudicious  and  fatal  enter- 
prise, he  attempted  to  impose  a  heavy  tax  upon  Guienne. 
This  was  extended  to  the  lands  of  the  nobility,  who  claimed 
an  immunity  from  all  impositions.  Many  of  the  chief  lords 
in  Guienne  and  Gascony  carried  their  complaints 
Rupture  of  to  the  tliroiie  of  Ciiarles  V.,  who  had  succeeded  his 
the  peace  of  father  in  1364,  appealing  to  him  as  the  prince's 
sovereign  and  judge.  After  a  year's  delay  the 
king  ventured  to  summon  the  Black  Prince  to 
answer  these  charges  before  the  peers  of  France,  and  the  war 
immediately  recommenced  between  the  two  countries.^ 

Though  it  is  impossible  to  reconcile  the  conduct  of  Charles 
upon  this  occasion  to  the  stern  principles  of  rectitude  which 
ought  always  to  be  obeyed,  yet  the  exceeding  injustice  of  Ed- 
ward in  the  former  war,  and  the  miseries  which  he  inflicted 
upon  an  unoffending  people  in  the  prosecution  of  his  claim, 
will  go  far  towards  extenuating  this  breach  of  the  treaty  of 

1  Froissart,  part  i.  chap.  214.  s  On  November  20, 1.368.  some  time  be- 

2  See  an  anecdote  of  liis  difference  with  fore  the  summons  of  the  prince  of  Wales, 
the  seigneur  d'Albret,  one  of  the  princi-  a  treaty  was  concluded  between  Charles 
pal  barons  in  Gascony,  to  which  Frois-  and  Henry  king  of  Castile,  wherein  the 
sart,  who  was  then  at  Bordeaux,  ascribes  latter  expressly  stipulates  that  whatever 
the  alienation  of  the  southern  nobility,  parts  of  Guienne  or  England  he  might 
chap.  244.  —  Edward  III.,  soon  after  the  conquer  he  would  give  up  to  the  king  of 
peace  of  Bretigni,  revoked  all  his  grants  France.  —  Kymer,  t.  vi.  p.  698. 

in  Guienne.  — Kymer,  t.  vi.  p.  391. 


France.  LOSS  OF  THE  ENGLISH  CONQUESTS.  73 

BreiijTiii.  It  is  observed,  indeeil,  with  some  truth  by  Ka|tiii, 
tli:it  we  jiiilirt'  of  Charles's  priiileneo  by  the  event  ;  aiul  that, 
it'  he  liail  been  uiitbrtunate  in  the  war.  he  would  have  broutrht 
on  himself  the  reproaches  of  all  mankind,  and  even  of  those 
writers  who  are  now  most  ready  to  extol  him.  But  his 
measures  had  been  so  sagaciously  taken,  that,  except  through 
that  perverseness  of  fortune,  against  which,  especially  in  war, 
there  is  no  security,  he  could  hardly  fail  of  success.  The 
elder  P^dward  was  declining  through  age,  and  the  younger 
through  disease;  the  ceded  provinces  were  eager  to  return 
to  their  native  king,  and  their  garrisons,  as  we  may  infer  by 
their  easy  reduction,  feeble  and  ill-supplied.  France,  on  the 
other  hand,  had  recovered  breath  after  her  losses  ;  the  sons  of 
those  who  had  fallen  or  fled  at  Poitiers  were  in  the  field ;  a 
king,  not  personally  warlike,  but  eminently  wise  and  popular, 
occupied  the  throne  of  the  rash  and  intemperate  John.  She 
was  restored  by  the  policy  of  Ciiarles  V.  and  the  valor  of  Du 
Guesclin.  This  hero,  a  Breton  gentleman  without  fortune  or 
exterior  "rraees.  was  the  jrreatest  ornament  of  France  dnrins 
that  age.  Though  inferior,  as  it  seems,  to  Lord  Chandos  in 
military  skill,  as  well  as  in  the  polished  virtues  of  chivalry, 
his  unwearied  activity,  his  talent  of  inspiring  confidence,  his 
good  t(>rtun<',  the  generosity  and  frankness  of  his  character, 
have  preserved  a  fresh  recollection  of  his  name,  wliich  has 
hardly  been  the  cjise  with  our  countryman. 

In  a  few  campaigns  the  English  wen.'  dei»rived  of  almost 
all  their  coniinots,  and  even,  in  a  great  degree,  of    „, 
their  original  possessions  in  Guicime.     They  were   lose  ali  ° 
still   formidable   enemies,  not  oidy  from  their  cour-    t'i^""/o'»- 
age  and  alacrity  in  the  war,  but  on  account  of  the 
keys  of  France  which  they  held  in  their  hands  ;   Bordeaux, 
Bayonne,  and   Calais,    by    inheritance  ^r   conquest ;     Brest 
and   Clierl)ourg,  in  mortgage  from  their  allies,  the  duke  of 
Biitany  and  king  ot    Navarre.      But  the  successor  of  Ivlwanl 
III.  was  Richard  II.;  a  reign  of  feebleness  and  sedition  gave 
no   (»pjtortunitv  for   prosecuting    schemes    of  anil)ilion.     The 
w;ir,    protracted    with    liiw  distinguished   events    tor    several 
years,  was   at   length  rtuspentled  by  repeated  armistices,  not, 
indeed,  very  strictly  ob.ierved,  and  which  the  animosity  of  the 
Kngli-h   would    not   permit    to   settle    in   any    regular  lii'.ily. 
Nothing   less   than    the   terms  obtainecl    al    Hri'ligni,  eiiipliali- 
CJilly  calle<l  the  Great  Peace,  would  .satisfy  a  frank  :iud  lour- 


74  CHARLES  V.  AND  VI.         Chap.  I.  Part.  II. 

ageous  people,  who  deemed  themselves  cheated  by  the  man- 
ner of  its  infraction.  The  war  was  therefore  always  popular 
in  England,  and  the  credit  which  an  ambitious  pi-ince,  Thomas 
duke  of  Gloucester,  obtained  in  that  country,  was  chiefly 
owing  to  the  determined  opposition  which  he  showed  to  all 
French  connections.  But  the  politics  of  Richard  II.  were  of 
a  different  cast ;  and  Henry  IV.  was  equally  anxious  to  avoid 
hostilities  with  France  ;  so  that,  before  the  unhappy  condition 
of  that  kingdom  tempted  his  son  to  revive  the  claims  of  Ed- 
ward in  still  more  favorable  circumstances,  there  had  been 
thirty  years  of  respite,  and  even  some  intervals  of  friendly 
intercourse  between  the  two  nations.  Both,  indeed,  were 
weakened  by  internal  discord  ;  but  France  more  fatally  than 
England.  But  for  the  calamities  of  Charles  VI.'s  reign,  she 
would  probably  have  expelled  her  enemies  from  the  kingdom. 
The  strength  of  that  fertile  and  populous  country  was  re- 
cruited with  sui'prising  rapidity.  Sir  Hugh  Calverley,  a 
famous  captain  in  the  wars  of  Edward  III.,  while  serving  in 
Flanders,  laughed  at  the  herald,  who  assured  him  that  the 
king  of  France's  army,  then  entering  the  country,  amounted 
to  26,000  lances ;  asserting  that  he  had  often  seen  their  larg- 
est musters,  but  never  so  much  as  a  fourth  part  of  the  num- 
ber.-^ The  relapse  of  this  great  kingdom  under  Charles  VI. 
was  more  painful  and  perilous  than  her  first  crisis ;  but  she 
recovered  from  each  through  her  intrinsic  and  inextinguish- 
able resources. 

Charles  V.,  surnamed  the  Wise,  after  a  reign,  which,  if  we 
Accession  of  Overlook  a  little  obliquity  in  the  rupture  of  the 
GUari  s  VI.,  peace  of  Bretigni,  may  be  deemed  one  of  the  most 
honorable  in  French  history,  dying  prematurely, 
left  the  crown  to  his  son,  a  boy  of  thirteen,  under  the  care  of 
thi'ee  ambitious  uncles,  the  dukes  of  Anjou,  Berry,  and  Bur- 
gundy. Charles  had  retrieved  the  glory,  restored  the  tran- 
quillity, revived  the  spirit  of  his  country  ;  the  severe  trials 
which  exercised  his  regency  after  the  battle  of  Poitiers  had 
disciplined  his  mind ;  he  became  a  sagacious  statesman,  an 
encourager  of  literature,  a  beneficent  lawgiver.  He  erred, 
doubtless,  though  upon  plausible  grounds,  in  accumulating  a 
vast  treasure,  which  the  duke  of  Anjou  seized  before  he  was 
cold  in  the  grave.  But  all  the  fruits  of  his  wisdom  were  lost 
in  the  succeeding  reign.     In  a  government  essentially  popu- 

iFroissart,  p.  ii.  c.  142. 


France.  SEDITIONS  AT  PAKIS.  7o 

kr  the  vouth  or  imUocility  of  the  sovereign  create>  no  mate- 
rial derangement.  In  a  monarehy,  where  all  the  s[)rings  of 
the  svjteni  dejienil  npon  one  eentral  force,  these  aeeiilents, 
whieh  are  snre  in  the  course  of  a  few  generations  to  recur, 
can  scarcely  tail  to  di-locate  the  whole  machine.  During 
tiie  forty  years  that  Charles  VL  bore  the  name  of  king, 
rather  than  reigned  in  France,  that  country  was  reduced 
to  a  state  far  more  deplorable  than  during  the  captivity  of 
John. 

A  great  change  had  occurred  in  the  political  condition  of 
Fnuice  during  the  fourteenth  century.  As  the  feudal  militia 
became  nnservicealile,  the  expenses  of  war  were  increased 
through  the  necessity  of  taking  troops  into  constant  pay  ;  and 
while  more  luxurious  reKnements  of  living  heiglitened  the 
temj)tations  to  profnseness,  tlie  means  of  enjoying  them  were 
lessened  by  improvident  alienations  of  the  domain.  Hence, 
taxes,  hitherto  almost  unknown,  were  levied  incessantly,  and 
with  all  tliose  circumstances  of  oppression  which  are  natural 
to  the  tiscal  proceedings  of  an  arbitrary  government.  These, 
as  has  been  said  betbre,  gave  rise  to  the  unpopularity  of  the 
two  first  Valois,  and  were  nearly  leading  to  a  complete  revo- 
lution in  the  convulsions  that  succeeded  the  battle  of  Poitiers. 
The  contidence  rejiosed  in  Charles  V.'s  wisdom  and  economy 
kept  everything  at  rest  during  his  reign,  though  the  taxes 
were  still  very  heavy.  But  the  seizure  of  his  vast  accumula- 
tions by  tlie  duke  of  Anjon,  and  the  ill  faitli  with  which  tlie 
new  gov«'rnment  imposed  .-ubsidies,  after  promising  their  abo- 
lition, provoked  the  people  of  Paris,  and  some-  Seaitiona 
times  of  other  phices.  to  repeated  seditions.  The  ati'aiia. 
Slates-Gen<-ral  not  only  compelled  the  government  to  revoke 
these  impositions  and  restore  the  nation,  at  least  according  to 
the  language  of  edicts,  to  all  their  liberties,  but,  with  less  wis- 
dom, refused  to  make  any  grant  of  money.  Indeed  a  re- 
markalile  spirit  of  democralical  freedom  was  then  rising  in 
those  classes  on  whom  the  crown  and  nobility  had  .so  long 
trampled.  An  example  was  lidd  (jut  by  the  Flemings,  who, 
always  tenacious  of  tiii-ir  privileges,  liecause  conscious  of  tlieir 
aljility  to  maiiUain  them,  were  engaged  in  a  finious  confiici  w iih 
Louis  count  of  Flanders.^     Tin;  e(nnt   of    France  took  pari 

1  Till-  Kli-nilKh  n-lM-Ulon,  wliidi  ori;rf-  upon  tin-  ponpl.' of  (Jlimit  wltlnnit  tlii-lr 
rmtiMl  ill  an  ntu-nipt.  itUKKfuU-il  by  bml  c<)ll^M•Ilt,  In  rfliitcil  in  a  vt>r>  jni.Tfutiiig 
a<ivLM.Ti(  to   tbu  couut,  to  iiuponu  a  tax    luiiiiiitT  by  FroUwirt,  p.  II.  c.  87,  &o.,  who 


76  SEDITIOXS  AT  PARIS.        Chap.  I.  Part  II. 

in  this  war ;  and  after  obtaining  a  decisive  victoiy  over  the 
citizens  of  Ghent,  Charles  VI.  returned  to  chastise  those  of 
Paris.^  Unable  to  resist  the  royal  armj^,  the  city  was  treated 
as  the  spoil  of  conquest ;  its  immunities  abridged ;  its  most 
active  leaders  put  to  death ;  a  fine  of  uncommon  severity  im- 
i:>osed ;  and  the  taxes  renewed  l)y  arbitrary  prerogative.  But 
the  people  preserved  their  indignation  for  a  favorable  mo- 
ment ;  and  were  unfortunately  led  by  it,  when  rendered  sub- 
servient to  the  ambition  of  others,  into  a  series  of  crimes,  and 
a  long  alienation  from  the  interests  of  their  country. 

It  is  difficult  to  name  a  limit  beyond  which  taxes  will  not 
be  borne  without  impatience,  when  they  appear  to  be  called 
for  by  necessity,  and  faithfully  applied ;  nor  is  it  impracticable 
for  a  skilful  minister  to  deceive  the  people  in  both  these 
respects.  But  the  sting  of  taxation  is  wastefulness.  What 
high-spii'ited  man  could  see  without  indignation  the  earnings 
of  his  labor,  yielded  ungrudgingly  to  the  public  defence, 
become  the  spoil  of  parasites  and  sjieculators  ?  It  is  this 
that  mortifies  the  liberal  hand  of  public  spirit ;  and  those 
statesmen  who  deem  the  security  of  government  to  depend 
not  on  laws  and  armies,  but  on  the  moral  sympathies  and 
prejudices  of  the  people,  will  vigilantly  guard  against  even 
the  suspicion  of  prodigality.  In  the  present  stage  of  society 
it  is  impossible  to  conceive  that  degree  of  'misapplication 
which  existed  in  the  French  treasury  under  Charles  VI., 
because  the  real  exigencies  of  the  state  could  never  again  be 
so  inconsiderable.     Scarcely  any  military  force  was  kept  up  ; 

equals  Herodotus  in  simplicity,  liveliness,  Parisians,  Froissart    says,    would    have 

and  power  over  the  heart.     I  would  ad-  spread  over  France  ;  toute  gentillesse  et 

vise   the   historical  student  to  acquaint  noblesse    eut   ete    morte    et    perdue  en 

himself  with  these  transactions  and  with  France ;  nor   would  the  Jacquerie  have 

the  corresponding  tumults  at  Paris.  ever  been  si  grande  etsi  horrible,    c.  120. 

They  are  among  the  eternal  lessons  of  To  the  example  of  the  Gantois  he  as- 
history  ;  for  the  unjust  encroachments  cribes  the  tumults  which  broke  out  about 
of  courts,  the  intemperate  passions  of  the  same  time  in  England  as  well  iis  in 
the  multitude,  the  ambition  of  dema-  France,  c.  84.  The  Flemish  insurrection 
gogues,  the  cruelty  of  victorious  factions,  would  probably  have  had  more  importint 
will  never  cease  to  have  their  parallels  consequencesif  it  had  been  cordially  sup- 
and  their  analogies  ;  while  the  military  ported  by  the  English  government.  But 
achievements  of  distant  times  afford  in  the  danger  of  encouraging  that  demo- 
general  no  instruction,  and  can  hardly  cratical  spirit  which  so  strongly  leavened 
occupy  too  little  of  our  time  in  historical  the  commons  of  England  might  justly 
studies.  The  prefaces  to  the  fifth  and  be  deemed  by  Richard  II. 's  council  much 
sixth  volumes  of  the  Ordonnances  des  more  than  a  counterbalance  to  the  ad- 
Rois  de  France  contain  more  accurate  vantage  of  distressing  France.  When 
inl'ormation  as  to  the  Parisian  disturb-  too  late,  some  attempts  were  made,  and 
ances  than  can  be  found  in  Froissart.  the  Flemish  towns  acknowledged  llich- 

1  If  Charles  VI.  had  been  defeated  by  ard  as  king  of  France  in  1384.     llymer, 

the  Flemings,   the  insurrection  of   the  t.  vii.  p.  448. 


FR-VXCE. 


SEPiTiox>;  AT  r.vnrs. 


and  the  proiluee  of  the  grievou?  impositions  th»Mi  levied  was 
chietiv  lavished  upon  the  royal  hoii-ehold,^  or  plmulered  hy 
the  otlieers  of  jrovernment.  This  naturally  resulted  from  tlie 
peeuliar  and  afHietiujr  eireumstanees  of  this  reign.  The 
duke  of  Anjou  pretendeil  to  be  entitled  by  the  late  king's 
appointment,  if  not  by  the  eonstitution  of  Franee,  to  exereise 
the  government  as  regent  during  the  minority;'^  but  this 
period,  whieh  would  naturally  be  very  short,  a  law  of  Charles 
V.  having  tixed  the  age  of  majority  at  thirteen,  was  still  more 
abritlged  by  consent ;  and  after  the  young  monarch's  corona- 
tion, lie  was  considered  as  reigning  with  full  personal  au- 
thority. Anjou.  Berry,  and  Burgimdy,  together  with  the 
king's  maternal  uncle,  the  duke  of  Bourbon,  divided  the 
actual  exercise  of  govermnent. 

The  first  of  these  soon  undertook  an  expedition  into  Italy, 
to  possess  himself  of  the  crown  of  Naples,  in  which  he  per- 
ished. Berrv  was  a  profuse  and  voluptuous  man,  of  no  great 
talents  ;  though  his  rank,  and  the  middle  position  which  he 
held  between  struggling  parties,  made  him  rather  consi)icnons 
throngliout  the  revolutions  of  that  age.  The  most  respecta- 
ble of  the  king's  uncles,  the  duke  of  Bourbon,  being  further 
removed  from  the  royal  stem,  and  of  an  unassuming  charac- 


1  Tlif  pxponscg  of  the  royal  liou.««'liolil, 
which  uiiiler  Charles  V.  were  m.lWK) 
livrex.  aiiiounteJ  in  1412  to  4o<i,iXK)- 
Villuret.  t.  iii.  p.  243.  ^  et  the  kinj;  was 
fu)  ill  siippliol  that  hi."  plate  ha'l  been 
pawiie.1.  When  Mont.i(ra.  minister  of 
the  finances,  wan  arrested,  in  14'l9,  all 
thill  plate  wa.d  found  concealed  in  his 
house. 

-  It  ha.«  always  lieen  an  unsettled 
point  whethiT  ttie  presumptive  heir  is 
entitltnl  to  the  rv(^nry  of  FniiK-e;  and. 
If  he  be  so  to  the  rep-ncy,  wln'ther  this 
Includi-s  the  custody  of  the  minors  |M'r- 
lion.  The  particular  case  of  the  duke  of 
Anjou  is  suliject  to  a  considenihle  appar- 
ent difflcu  I  ty.  T wo  instruments  of  Ch.irles 
v.,  hinirini{  the  same  date  ofOctoher.  1374, 
as  pnl.lished  t>y  Dnpuy  (Tniite  de  Ma- 
jorite  di-s  Itois,  p.  I'il),  are  plainly  irn-c- 
oncilahle  with  each  other;  the  former 
(rivini;  ilie  exclusive  n-ifency  to  fh<-  rluke 
of  Anjou.  n-"<-rvin({  the  cust'sly  of  the 
minor's  {MTson  to  other  KUurdians;  the 
latti-r  confi-rriiiK  ""'  oiilj  this  custody, 
hut  the  government  of  the  kingdom,  on 
the  <|Ui-en.  and  on  the  dukes  of  llnr- 
KUOily  and  Itoiirhon,  without  menlion- 
inK  tJie  duke  of  .Vnjou's  name.  Ihuiiel 
calls  (hi'"<'  l<-«tjinients  of  Charles  V., 
wberuu  they  are  In  tU«  fortu  uf  letterit* 


patent;  and  supposes  that  the  kin;;  had 
suppressed  both,  as  neither  pjirtv  .seems 
to  have  availed  itself  of  their  authority 
in  the  discussions  that  took  place  after 
the  king's  death.  (Hist,  de  France,  t.iii. 
p.  Wl.  edit.  1720).  Villaret.  as  is  too 
much  his  custom,  slides  over  the  iliffl- 
culty  without  notice.  But  .M.  de  Hre- 
quiirni  (Mem.  de  r.\cad.  de.s  Inscript.  1. 1, 
p.  533l  oV>.servcs  that  the  second  of  these 
instruments,  as  ))ul>lished  by  M.  Se- 
cousse,  in  the  Ordonnances  des  Kois,  t. 
vi.  p.  4<lti.  differs  most  es.seutially  from 
that  in  Dupu^',  and  contains  no  mention 
whatever  of  the  iiovernment.  It  is, 
therefore,  easily  reconcilable  with  the 
first,  that  confers  the  re^'en<y  on  the 
duke  of  Anjou.  As  Uupuy  took  it  from 
the  same  source  as  Si-cousse,  namely, 
the  Tre.sor  <les  Chartes,  a  stnuiif  sus- 
jiicion  of  wilful  interpolation  falls  upon 
iiim,  or  upon  (lie  editor  of  his  posthu- 
mous work,  printed  in  li'^'iij.  Thi-  date 
will  n-ailily  sutriiesf  a  motive  for  such  an 
inferpol;itioii  to  thos<'  who  ri'colle<-t  the 
ciri'Unistaiices  of  Knince  at  that  time  and 
for  siune  jears  before-:  Anne  uf  .\nr.lrla 
luivinK  nniintjiined   herself  hi   poi.ws»lon 

of  a    ti'stai tjiry   ret:ency    against     tllB 

liroKUUiptive  heir. 


78  DEEANGEMENT  OF  CHARLES  VI.  Chap.  I.  Part  TI. 

ter,  took  a  less  active  part  than  his  three  coadjutors.     Bur- 
gundy, an  ambitious  and  able  prince,  maintained  the  ascen- 
dency, until  Charles,  weary  of  a  restramt  which  had  been 
,oc-        protracted  by  his  uncle  till  he  was  in  his  twenty- 

first  year,  took  the  reigns  mto  his  own  hands.  1  he 
dukes  of  Burgundy  and  Berry  retired  from  court,  and  the 
administration  was  committed  to  a  different  set  of  men,  at 
the  head  of  whom  appeared  the  constable  de  Clisson,  a  sol- 
dier of  great  fame  in  the  English  wars.  The  people  rejoiced 
in  the  fall  of  the  princes  by  \\'hose  exactions  they  had  been 
plundered ;  but  the  new  ministers  soon  rendered  themselves 
odious  by  similar  conduct.  The  fortune  of  Clisson,  after  a 
few  years'  favor,  amounted  to  1,700,000  livres,  equal  in 
weight  of  silver,  to  say  nothing  of  the  depreciation  of  money, 
to  ten  times  that  sum  at  present.-^ 

Charles  VI.  had  reigned  five  years  from  his  assumption 

of  power,  when  he  was  seized  with  a  derangement 
mentof  of  intellect,  which  continued,  through  a  series  of 
T'lT'^ilgJ^     recoveries  and  relapses,  to  his  deatli.     He  passed 

thirty  years  in  a  pitiable  state  of  suffering,  neglected 
by  his  family,  particularly  by  the  most  infamous  of  women, 
Isabel  of  Bavaria,  his  queen,  to  a  degree  which  is  hardly 
credible.^  The  ministers  were  immediately  disgraced ;  the 
princes  reassumed  their  stations.  For  several  years  the 
duke  of  Burgundy  conducted  the  government.  But  this  Avas 
Partii's  of  ^'^  Opposition  to  a  formidable  rival,  Louis,  Duke 
Burgundy      of  Orleans,  the  king's  brother.     It  was  impossible 

that  a  prince  so  near  to  the  throne,  favored  by  the 
queen,  perhaps  with  criminal  fondness,  and  by  the  people  on 
account  of  his  external  graces,  should  not  acquire  a  share  of 
power.  He  succeeded  at  length  in  obtaining  the  whole  man- 
agement of  affairs ;  wherein  the  outrageous  dissoluteness  of 
his  conduct,  and  still  more  the  excessive  taxes  imposed,  ren- 
dered him  altogether  odious.  The  Parisians  compared  his 
administration  with  that  of  the  duke  of  Burgundy ;  and  from 
that  time  ranged  themselves  on  the  side  of  the  latter  and  his 

iFroissart,  p.  iv.  c.  46.  of  Orleans,  and  represents  her  as  merely 

2  Slsmondi  inclines  to  speak  more  fa-  an  indolent  woman  fond  of  good  cheer, 

vorably  of  this  queen  than   most  have  Yet  he  owns  that  the  king  was  so  neg- 

done:    "Dans  les  temps  posterieurs  on  lected  as  to  suffer  from  an  excessive  want 

s'est  plu  i  faire  un  monstre  de  Isabeau  of  cleanliness,  sometimes  even  from  hun- 

de  Baviere."    He  discredits  the  suspicion  ger  (xii.  218,  225).     Was  this  no  imputa- 

of  a  criminal  intercourse  with  the  duke  tion  on  his  wife  ?    See  too  Michelet,  vl.  42. 


Fr-vxce. 


MURDER  OF  THE  DUKE  Ol"  ORLEANS. 


familv.  tlirousliout  the  long  disti-actions  to  which  the  ambition 
ot"the-e  princes  gave  birth. 

The  death  of  the  dnke  of  Burgundy,  in  1404,  after  sev- 
eral riuetuations  of  success  between  him  and  the  duke  of 
Orleans,  bv  no  means  left  his  party  without  a  head.  Eiinally 
brave  anil  ambitious,  but  tar  more  audacious  and  unprinci- 
pled, his  son  John,  surnamed  Sanspeur,  sustained  the  same 
contest.  A  reconciliation  had  l)een.  however.  I>rought  about 
with  the  duke  of  Orleans ;  they  had  sworn  reciprocal  ti'iend- 
ship.  and  participated,  as  was  the  custom,  in  order  to  render 
these  obligations  more  solemn,  in  the  same  communion.  In 
the  niid-t  of  this  outward  harmony,  the  duke  of 
Orleans  was  assassinated  in  the  streets  of  Paris.  fiVeauL°of 
After  a  slight  attempt  at  concealment,  Burgundy  0rieai^,_ 
avowed  and  boasted  of  the  crime,  to  which  he  had 
been  instigated,  it  is  said,  by  somewhat  more  than  political 
jealousy.^  From  this  fatal  moment  the  dissensions  of  the 
roval  family  began  to  assume  the  complexion  of  civil  war. 
The  queen,  the  sons  of  the  duke  of  Orleans,  with  the  dukes 
of  Berry  and  Bourl>ou,  united  against  the  assassin.  But  he 
possessed,  in  adilitiou  to  his  own  apjianage  of  Burgundy,  the 
countv  of  Flanders  as  his  maternal  inheritance ;  and  the 
jteople  of  Paris,  who  hated  the  duke  of  Orleans,  readily  for- 
gave, or  rather  exulted  in  his  murder.* 


'Orleans  Is  oalJ  to  have  boasted  of 
the  iluchcss  of  Bunfiimly's  favors.  Vill. 
t.  xii.  p.  474.  .\iin'lt;arii,  who  wrote 
about  ei;;hty  years  nft<'r  tlio  time,  says, 
vim  etiaiii  iiiferre  atteiitare  |iriesun:iisit. 
Xotires  lies  .Manuserits  ilu  Koi.  t.  i.  p.  411. 

■-  .Mirhi'let  n-presents  this  younjf  prince 
as  n-^rett<-il  aiii)  Vwloveil  ;  but  liis  lan- 
gun'„'i'  is  full  of  those  stniiitre  contrasts 
aii'l  inconsistencies  whicli,  for  the  sjike 
of  efTt^•t.  this  most  brilliant  writer  some- 
times employs.  "  Ilavait.  clans  ses  em- 
jxirtemens  Je  jcunesse.  terriblement  vexe 
iepeuple:  il  fut  mau<lit  i|u  ix-nple.  pleuru 
(lu  peuple.  Vivaiit,  il  coi'itii  bien  Je 
liinneii:  mais  combieii  plus,  mort !  Si 
vous  cucuiii-/.  ilemanili-  ik  la  France  si  re 
ji'Une  homme  <'-tiiit  bien  iliirne  de  tante 
il'amour,  elle  ei'it  repondu.  .le  Taimais. 
f'l.  ii'r-st  pas  seulement  pourle  bien  (|u'on 
.'ilin>'  ;  <|ni  uinn'.  aime  tout,  les  ilefauts 
iiu--i.  i'i.|ni-ci  plut  comnie  il  i-tait,  m£l6 
lie  bien  ft  lie  nml.  (Hist,  de  France,  vi. 
>j.)  What  in  the  mi4ininK  of  this  love  for 
one  who.  he  has  just  told  us,  was  cursecj 
by  the  |>e<)ple  .'  And  If  Paris  was  the 
p  I.ri—.ntntlve  of  Kranrc,  how  did  tlie 
\x-'H,\v  »how  their  affection  for  the  duku 


of  Orleans,  when  they  were  openly  and 
vehemently  the  partisans  of  his  mur- 
derer.' On  the  first  return  of  the  duko 
of  Burgundy  to  Paris  after  the  .issa.ssi- 
nation,  the  citizens  shouted  Noel,  the 
usual  cry  on  the  entrance  of  the  king, 
to  the  great  displea,sure  of  the  queen  and 
other  princes.  "  Et  pour  vrai.  comme 
dit  est  dessus.  il  estoit  tres  fort  aynit  du 
comniun  peuple  de  Paris,  et  avoicnt 
grind  esperance  qu'iceluy  due  eust  treS 
gnind  affection  au  royaume,  et  X  la  chose 
publicque,  et  avoient  souvenance  de.s 
grans  tallies  qui  avoient  este  mises  sua 
depuis  la  mort  du  due  I'hiiippede  IJour- 
gogne  pere  d'iceluy,  jusques  ^  I'lieure 
pre.sente,  lesquelles  ils  entendoient  (juo 
fcust  par  le  moyen  dudit  iluc  dOrleans. 
Et  pource  estoit  grandcmeiit  encouru  en 
rindigiiation  d'iceluy  peuple,  et  li'ur 
senibloit  qu(r  Dieu  de  i>u  gr.lco  les  avoit 
triis-gnindemeiit  ])our  reconuiiandez, 
quand  il  avoit  sonfTert  qu'ils  fusst-nt 
hors  rle  sa  subjection  et  governi'ment,  et 
qu'ils  en  estfiicnt  di'livrcz."  >|i.n«tri-let, 
34.  Compare  this  with  what  .M.  .Michelet 
has  written. 


80  CIVIL  WAR.  Chap.  I.  Part  II. 

It  is  easy  to  estimate  the  weakness  of  the  government,  from 
the  terms  upon  which  the  duke  of  Burgundy  was  permitted 
to  obtain  pardon  at  Chartres,  a  year  after  the  perpetration  of 
the  crime.  As  soon  as  he  entered  the  royal  presence,  every 
one  rose,  except  the  king,  queen,  and  dauphin.  The  duke, 
approaching  the  throne,  fell  on  his  knees  ;  when  a  lord,  who 
acted  as  a  sort  of  counsel  for  him,  addressed  the  king :  "  Sire, 
the  duke  of  Burgundy,  your  cousin  and  servant,  is  come 
before  you,  being  informed  that  he  has  incurred  your  dis- 
pleasure, on  account  of  what  he  caused  to  be  done  to  the  duke 
of  Orleans  your  brother,  for  your  good  and  that  of  your  king- 
dom, as  he  is  ready  to  prove  when  it  shall  please  you  to  hear 
it,  and  therefore  requests  you,  with  all  humility,  to  dismiss 
your  resentment  towards  him,  and  to  receive  him  into  your 
favor."  1 

This  insolent  apology  was  all  the  atonement  that  could  be 

extorted  tor  the  assassination  of  the  iirst  jii'ince  of 

^;"'       ■       the  blood.     It  is  not  wonderful  that  the  duke  of 

Civil  war  -J-,  ,  1       •        1    1  f     m  • 

between  Burguntly  soou  obtauicd  the  management  oi  alrairs, 

the  parties.  ^^^  drovc  his  adversaries  from  the  capital.  The 
princes,  headed  by  the  father-in-law  of  the  young  duke  of 
Orleans,  the  count  of  Armagnac,  from  whom  their  party  was 
now  denominated,  raised  their  standard  against  him  ;  and  the 
north  of  France  was  rent  to  pieces  by  a  protracted  civil  war, 
in  which  neither  party  scrupled  any  extremity  of  pillage  or 
massacre.  Several  times  peace  was  made  ;  but  each  faction, 
conscious  of  their  own  insincerity,  suspected  that  of  their 
adversaries.  The  king,  of  whose  name  both  availed  them- 
selves, was  only  in  some  doubtful  intervals  of  reason  capable 
of  rendering  legitimate  the  acts  of  either.  The  dauphin, 
aware  of  the  tyranny  which  the  two  parties  alternately  exer- 
cised, was  forced,  even  at  the  expense  of  perpetuating  a  civil 
wai',  to  balance  one  against  the  other,  and  permit  neither  to 
be  wholly  subdued.  He  gave  peace  to  the  Armagnacs  at 
^  ,,„        Auxerre,  in  despite  of  the  duke  of  Burerundy  ;  and, 

A.D.  1412.  ,         .  '  '  .  .11  .  -,  . 

having  atterwards  united  with  them  against  this 

prince,  and  cai-ried  a  successful  war  into  Flanders,  he  disap- 

,,,,        pointed  their  reveno;e  by  concludino;  with  him  a 
A.D.  1414.  ^       i    *  »        ./  o 

treaty  at  Arras. 

This  dauphin  and  his  next  brother  died  within   sixteen 

months   of  each  other,  by  Avhich  the  rank  devolved   upon 

1  Monstrelet,  part  i.  f.  112. 


France.  ^^rURDER  OF  DUKE  OF  BURGUNDY.  81 


Cliarle-:,  youngest  son  of  the  king.     The  count  of  Arraagnac. 
now  i-oiisiabk'  of  France,  retained  posiJession  of  the  goveru- 
nieiit.     liut  his  severity,  and  tlic  weiglit  of  taxes, 
revivt'd  the  Burgundian  party  in  Paris,  which  a      ^" ' 
rigid  proscription  had  endeavored  to  destroy.     He  brought  on 
his  head  the  iuiphicable  hatred  of  the  queen,  whom  he  had 
not  uidy  sliut  out  from  pubHc  atlairs,  but  disgraced  by  the 
detection  of  her  gaUantries.     Notwithstanding  her 
ancient  emnity  to  the  (hike  of  rmrgiuidy,  she  made 
overtures  to  liim,  and,  being  deli\  cred  by  his  troops  from  con- 
finement, declai'ed  herself  openly  on  his  side.     A  few  obscure 
persons  stole  the  city  keys,  and   ailmitted  the  Burgundians 
into  Paris.     The  tumult  which  arose  showed  in  a  moment 
the  disposition  of  the  inhabitants  ;  but  this  was  more  horribly 
displayed  a  few  days  afterwards,  when  the  populace,  rushing 

to  the  pri-ons,  massacred  the  constable  d'Arma<z:nac 

,  ,  . '  T>   ,  ,  1    ,.  7  June  12, 1418. 

and  III-  partisans.     Between  three  and  lour  tiiou- 

sand  persons  were  murdered  on  this  day,  which  has  no  paral- 
l<d   but  what  our  own   age  has  witnessed,  in   the  massacre 
jH-rpetrated  by  the  same  ferocious  populace  of  Paris,  under 
circumstances  nearly  similai*.     Not  long  afterwards  an  agree- 
ment took  place  between  the  duke  of  Burgundy,  who  had  now 
the   king's  person   as   well   as   the   cai)ital   in   his 
hamls,  and  the  dauphin,  whose  party  was  enfeebled 
by  the  loss  of  almost  all  its  leaders.     This  reconciliation, 
whieli  mutual  interest  should  have  rendered  per- 
manent, hail   lasted  a  very  short  time,  when  the  Assassination 
duke  of  Burgundy  was  assassinated  at  an  interview  Bur«uua.v"° 
with  Charles,  in  Ids  presence,  and  by  the  hands  of 
his  friends,  though  not,  perhaps,  with  his  previous  knowledge.^ 

I  There  arc  three  suppositiona  conceiv-  could  not  accept  without  offending  God  ; 

afile  toexplitiii  thij*  iuiportiint  pa.xsiiKo  in  and  conjecture  that  this  inisht  mean  the 

lii-torv,  tli(.'  a.'i.-.ji.'i.-inatiiin  <if  John  .Saus-  a.ss:issiiiation  <if  the   ilaupliiii.     Itut  the 

jMiir.      1.   It  wa-s  pri-t»'niled  hy  the  dau-  expressions  of  Henry  ili>  not  relate  to  any 

pliins  frieinhi  at  the  liuie,  and  lian  been  private  proposals  of  the  duke,  hut  to  de- 

maiiiMiined  nion-  lately  (St.  Foix,  Kssais  niands  niaile  hy  him  and  the  ((Ueen,  an 

BUT  Tari".  t.  iii.  p.  '2tK>.  eilit.  \l>i'),  that  ho  proxies  for  Charles  VI.  in  conference  for 

hud  pn-uieditjited  the  munlerfif  Charles,  peace,  wliii-h  he  sjiys  he  could  not  accept 

ail  I   that  hi*  <i»u   was  an  ai-t  of  s<'lf-de-  without  olTendinj;  (lo<l  and  cofitravi'iiiii({ 

f-ii<i-.    Thi'-is.  I  think.quit)' inipnihahle  :  his  own  letters-patent.    (Ityniir,  t,  ix.  p. 

I'  ■     '  .....'.i„  i,;„i  ,1  ({reat  anny  near  the  ''Jit.)     It  is  not,  however,  very  rle.ir  what 

the  duke  was  only  attende<l  this  means.     2.   The  next  hypothe«is  is, 

t'.  Miln-d  men.     Vlllaret,  indee(|,  that  it  was  the  deliberate  act  of  t'harli"*. 

and  .M.  K'lix,  in  order  to  throw  suspieion  Hut  his  youth,  his  fi-j-bleness  of  spirit, 

u|Kin   the  duke  of  liun^unily's  motives,  ami    espi-cijilly    the    constj-riiatlon    ieiti) 

a'>-.Tt    that    Henry    V.    accuwd    him    of  which,  by  all   testimoidi-s  he  was  fliniwu 

hiivjnu'  made  pnipowLt  to  him  which  Uo  by  the  event,  are  rather  adverxe  to  this 
vol..    1.           0 


82  INTRIGUES  WITH  ENGLAND.    Chap.  I.  Part  II. 

From  whomsoever  the  crime  proceeded,  it  was  a  deed  of  in- 
fatuation, and  phmged  France  afresh  into  a  sea  of  perils,  from 
which  the  union  of  these  factions  had  just  afforded  a  hope  of 
extricating  her. 

It  has  been  mentioned  ah-eady  that  the  English  war  had 
almost  ceased  during  the  reigns  of  Richard  II.  and 
French**^  °  Henry  IV.  The  former  of  these  was  attached  by 
princes  with  inclination,  and  latterly  by  marriage,  to  the  court 
of  France  ;  and,  though  the  French  government 
showed  at  first  some  disposition  to  revenge  his  dethronement, 
yet  the  new  king's  success,  as  well  as  domestic  quarrels, 
deterred  it  from  any  serious  renewal  of  the  war.  A  long 
commercial  connection  had  subsisted  between  England  and 
Flanders,  which  the  dukes  of  Burgundy,  when  they  became 
sovereigns  of  the  latter  country  upon  the  death  of  count 
Louis  in  1381,  were  studious  to  preserve  by  separate  truces.-^ 
They  acted  upon  the  same  pacific  policy  when  their  interest 
predominated  in  the  councils  of  France.  Henry  had  even 
a  negotiation  pending  for  the  marriage  of  his  eldest  son  with 
a  princess  of  Burgundy,^  when  an  unexpected  proposal  from 
the  opposite  side  set  more  tempting  views  before  his  eyes. 
The  Armagnacs,  pressed  hard  by  the  duke  of  Burgundy, 
offered,  in  consideration  of  only  4000  troops,  the  pay  of  which 
they  would  themselves  defray,  to  assist  him  in  the  recov- 
iiio       ery  of  Guienne  and  Poitou.     Four  princes  of  the 

May,  1412.        ,ii  i^  t,         ,  /-\  ^  iii 

blood  —  Berry,  Bourbon,  Urleans,  and  Alen^on  — 
disgraced  their  names  by  signing  this  treaty.^  Henry  broke 
off  his  alliance  with  Burgundy,  and  sent  a  force  into  France, 
which  found  on  its  arrival  that  the  princes  had  made  a  sep- 
arate treaty,  without  the  least  concern  for  their  English  allies. 
After  his  death,  Henry  V.  engaged  for  some  time  in  a  series 
of  negotiations  with  the  French  court,  where  the  Orleans 
party  now  prevailed,  and  with  the  duke  of  Burgundy.  He 
even  secretly  treated  at  the  same  time  for  a  marriage  with 
Catherine  of  France  (which  seems  to  have  been  his  favorite, 

explanation.    3.  It  remains  only  to  con-  quences,  than  that  which  had  provoked 

elude  that  Tanegui  de  Chastel,  and  other  it.     Charles,  however,  hy  his  subsequent 

favorites  of  the  dauphin,  long  attached  conduct,  recognized  their  deed,  and  nat- 

to  the  Orleans   faction,  who  justly  re-  urally  exposed  himself  to  the  resentment 

garded  the  duke  a«  an  infamous  assassin,  of  the  young  duke  of  Burgundy. 

and  might  question  his  sincerity  or  their  l  Rymer,   t.   viii.  p.  511  ;  Villaret,   t. 

own  safety  if  lie  should  regain  the  ascen-  xii.  p.  174. 

dant,  took  advantage  of  this  opportunity  "  Idem,  t.  viii.  p.  721. 

to  commit  anact  of  retaliation,  less  crim-  3  Idem,  t.  viii.  p.  726,  737,  738. 

inal,  but  not  less  ruinous  in  its  conse- 


FRA.NCE.  INVASION  BY  HENRY  V.  83 

a-5    it    \va<    ultimately   his   successful   project).   an<l    with    ;i 

flaujrliter  of  the   duke  —  a    (lui)lifitv   not    c-reditable    to    his 

nicniorv.^     But  Henry's  ambition,  which  aimed  at  tin-  hiirhest 

(luarry,  was  uol  lung  lettered  l>y  negutiatiou  ;  and,  indeed,  his 

projKisals  of  marrying   Catherine   were    coupled   with    >inh 

exorbitant  demands,  as  France,  notwithstanding  all 

her  weakness,  could  not  admit,  though  she  would    j^aj'*'"^? 

have  ceded  Guienne,  and  given  a  vast  dowry  with   "'^"''j.^V 

the  princess.-     He  invaded  Normandy,  took  Har- 

Heur.  and  won  the  areat  battle  of  Azincourt  on  his  march  to 

Calais.3 

The  flower  of  French  chivalry  was  mowed  down  in  this 
fatal  day,  but  especially  the  c-hiefs  of  the  Orleans  party,  and 
till'  princes  of  the  royal  blood,  met  willi  death  or  captivity. 
Burgundy  had  still  suffered  nothing ;  but  a  clandestine  nego- 
tiation had  secured  the  duke's  neutrality,  though  he  seems 
not  to  have  entered  into  a  regular  alliance  till  a  year  after 
the  battle  of  Azincourt,  when,  by  a  secret  treaty  at  Calais,  he 
acknowledged  the  right  of  Henry  to  the  crown  of  France, 
and  his  own  obligation  to  do  him  homage,  though  its  per- 
formance was  to  be  suspended  till  Henry  should  become 
master  of  a  considerable  part  of  the  kingdom.*  In  a  second 
invasion  the  English  achieved  the  conquest  of  Normandy  ; 
and  this,  in  all  suljseipient  negotiations  for  peace  during  the 
life  of  Henry,  he  would  never  consent  to  relinquish.  After 
.several  conferences,  which  his  demands  rendered  abortive,  the 
French  court  at  length  consented  to  add  Normandy  to  the 
cessions  ma<le  in  the  peace  at  Bretigni;''  and  the  treaty, 
though  laboring  under  some  ditlienlties,  seems  to  have  been 
nearlv  completed,  when  the  duke  of  Burgundy,  for  j„iy  n, 
reiisons  unexplained,  suddeidy  came  to  a  reconcil-   i^^'-*- 

»  Rvmer,  t.  Ix.  p.  13fi.  9000  wore  kniphts  or  penflpmen.    Almost 

*  Tiic  t<?nii!i  ri'<iuin-<l  bv  IIcnrv'B  am-  nn  iiiiiny  won-  iiiaiU'  prisdiu-rs,  The  Kiiir- 
1^  .  lom  In  Ul/j  »tTC  tlic  rrown  of  linh,  iircnnlin;.'  to  MonstroU't.  lo-t  W*) 
1  ••;  or.  Bt  luHKt.  n-WTvinK  Hunrv'H  men:  Imt  tlnir  own  historiiiii!"  rnlni-e 
.  -  to  tlmt,  Nonn«nilv.  Touniliie,  thiw  ton  t.tv  small  niimlitT.  nisiuiionrt 
^I  M  .  (liiiiiMii-.  witli  til.-'  hoinnKP  of  tlmt  the- duki- of  Itcrry,  wlio  ii.lvi.-ii-.l  the 
r.r  -iiiv  iiml  Klnn.liTH.  Tim  Kn-m-li  of-  Kn'nrh  to  iivoid  iin  action.  Iiiul  liwn  in 
fin-.!  (iiil.nni-  nii.l  Siilntongc.  an<l  a  tlio  Ijnttli-  of  I'oititTH  lift.v-nint>  .ware 
ilowrv  of  *<p.f|O0  (foM  rrownd  for  Cath-  bt-fon-.     Vill.  t.  xiii.  \>.  3.V,. 

«Tiri.'.    Till-  KnifliHli  doinandi'd  2,000,000.         *  Comiian-  Ilym.  t.  ix.  p.  34.  13«.  WH. 
Iin. I    t.  Ix.  |>.  '2\H.  894.     Till!  last  reftTunce  is  to  tin-  treaty 

*  Till-  Ki>irli«li  nniiv  at  Azincourt  vnn     of  ("alaid. 

pn.L.il.h  of  not  moro  than  l.',.(flO  men  ;  t.  Itvm.  t.  ix.  p.  02S,  7ra.    Nothliiif  run 

til-  Krin<li  WIT-  •'  "■■   i-M«f  .VI/kN),  uml.  be  mon,'  inwlent  tlian  tlii<  tone  of  lien- 

b>   -.i„e  rom|,i                    ii.l,  mon-  nu-  ry'"   Ingtructlonn  to  bia  commini'loneni. 

uu-rouji.    Tliey  :•                 •  kllliHl.of  wlioui  p.C28. 


84  TREATY  OF  TEOYES.     Chap.  I.  Part  II. 

iation  with  the  dauphin.  This  event,  which  must  have  been 
intended  adversely  to  Henry,  would  probably  have  broken  o^ 
Sept.  10,  ^11  parley  on  the  subject  of  peace,  if  it  had  not 
1419.  been  speedily  followed  by  one  still  more  surprising, 

the  assassination  of  the  duke  of  Burgundy  at  Montereau. 

An  act  of  treachery  so  apparently  unprovoked  inflamed 
the  minds  of  that  powerful  party  which  had  looked  up  to  the 
duke  as  their  leader  and  patron.  The  city  of  Paris,  especiall}', 
abjured  at  once  its  respect  for  the  supposed  author  of  the 
murder,  thousjh  the  legitimate  heir  of  the  crown.  A  solemn 
oath  was  taken  by  all  ranks  to  revenge  the  crime  ;  the  nobility, 
the  clergy,  the  parliament,  vying  with  the  populace  in  their 
invectives  against  Charles,  whom  they  now  styled  only  pre- 
tended (soi-disant)  dauphin.  Philip,  son  of  the  assassinated 
duke,  who,  with  all  the  popularity  and  much  of  the  ability  of 
his  father,  did  not  inherit  all  his  depravity,  was  instigated  by 
a  pardonable  excess  of  filial  resentment  to  ally  himself  Avith 
the  king  of  England.  These  passions  of  the  people  and  the 
duke  of  Burgundy,  concurring  with  the  imbecility  of  Charles 
Treatv  of  ^^'  ^"^^  ^he  rancor  of  Isabel  towards  her  son,  led 
Troyes,^  to  the  treaty  of  Troyes.  This  compact,  signed  by 
^^'  '  the  queen  and  duke,  as  proxies  of  the  king,  who 
had  fallen  into  a  state  of  unconscious  idiocy,  stipulated  that 
Henry  V.,  upon  his  marriage  with  Catherine,  should  become 
immediately  regent  of  France,  and,  after  the  death  of  Charles, 
succeed  to  the  kingdom,  in  exclusion  not  only  of  the  dauphin, 
but  of  all  the  royal  family.^  It  is  unnecessary  to  remark  that 
these  flagitious  provisions  were  absolutely  invalid.  But  they 
had  at  the  time  the  strong  sanction  of  force  ;  and  Henry  might 
plausibly  flatter  himself  with  a  hope  of  establishing  his  own 
usurpation  as  firmly  in  France  as  his  father's  had  been  in 
England.  What  not  even  the  comprehensive  policy  of  Ed- 
ward III.,  the  energy  of  the  Black  Prince,  the  valor  of  their 
KnoUyses  and  Chandoses,  nor  his  own  victories  could  attain, 
now  seemed,  by  a  strange  vicissitude  of  fortune,  to  court  his 

1  As  if  through  shame  on  account  of  treaty,  which  he  was  too  proud  to  admit, 

what  was  to  follow,  the  first  articles  con-  The  treaty  of  Troyes   was  confirmed  by 

tain  petty  stipulations  about  the  dower  the  States-General,  or  rather  by  a  partial 

of  Catherine.     The  sixth  gives  the  king-  convention  which  assumed  the  name,  in 

dora  of  France  after  Charles's  decease  to  December  1420.     Rym.  t.  x.  p.  30.     The 

Henry  and  his  heirs.     The  seventh  con-  parliament  of   England    did   the   same, 

cedes   the  immediate    regency.      Henry  Id.  p.  110.     It  is  printed  at  full  length 

kept   Normandy  by  right  of   conquest,  by  Villaret,  t.  xv.  p.  84. 
not  in  virtue  of  any  stipulation  in  the 


Fr-vnce.    causes  of  THE  SUCCESS  OF  THE  ENGLISH.       85 

ambition.  During  two  year?;  that  Ilcm-v  lived  after  (he  treatv 
of  Troves,  he  goverueil  the  north  of  France  with  unhinited 
anthority  in  the  name  of  Charles  VI.  The  latter  snrvived 
his  son-in-law  but  a  few  weeks ;  and  the  infant  Henry  VI. 
wa-i  innnediatelv  proclaimed  king  of  France  and  England, 
under  the  regency  of  his  uncle  the  duke  of  Bedford. 

Xotwilhstanding  the  disadvantage  of  a  minority,  the  Eng- 
lish cause  was  less  weakeneil  by  the  death  of  Henry  tlian 
migiit  have  been  expected.     The  duke  of  lledt'ord  partook  of 
the  same  character,  and  resembled  his  brother  in  gtatcof 
faidts  as  well  as  virtues;  in  his  hauLditiness  and  ^ ™"<-e  at  tiie 

...  1  '     1  1  1      accession  ot 

arbitrary  temper  as  m  his  energy  and  address.    At  cuartes  vii. 
the  accession  of  Charles  VII.  the  usurper  was  ac-  *"•  ^'^^• 
knowledged  by  all  the  noi'thern  provinces  of  France,  except 
a   few   fortresses,   by   most  of    Guienne,  and    tlic 
dominions   of   Burgundy.     The   duke   of  Britany  ' '  ' 
soon  afterwards  acceded  to  the  treaty  of  Troyes,  but  changed 
his    partv   again    several    times   within    a    few    years.     The 
central    provinces,  with    Languedoc,   Foitou,  and   Dauphine, 
were  faithful  to  the  king.      For  some  years  the  war  continued 
without  any  decisive  result ;  but  the  balance  was  clearly  swayed 
in  favor  of  England.     For  this  it  is  not  difficult  to  assign  sev- 
eral causes.     The  animosity  of  the  Parisians  and  causes  of  the 
the  duke  of  Burgundy  against  the  Armagnac  party  success  of  the 
>till  continued,  mingled  in  the  former  with  dread    "^^ 
of  tlie  king's  return,  whom  they  judged  themselves  to  have 
inexpiably  offended.     The   war  had  brought  forward  some 
acconiplished  cfunmanders  in  the  English  army  ;   surpassing, 
not  indeed  in  valor  and  enterprise,  but  in  military  skill,  any 
whom  France  could  oppose  to  them.     Of  these  the  most  dis- 
tinguished, besides  the  duke  of  Bedford  himself,  were  "War- 
wick. Salisbury,  and   Talbot.     Tlieir   troops,  too,  were   still 
verv  superior  to  tin-   French.     But  this,  we,  nnist  in  candor 
allow,  proceedeil   in  a  gn-at  degree  from  the  mode  in  which 
they  were  rai>-ed.      Tin-  war  was  so  jtopuhu-  in  England  that 
it  was  easy  to  pick  th<,'  best  and  stoutest   recruits,^  and   tlitir 
high  pay  allured  men  of  respectable  condition  to  the  service. 
AVe   fimi    in    liymer  a   contract  of  tlu;  earl   of  Salisbury  to 
.xiipjily  a  l)ody  of  trcxtps,  receiving  a  shilling  a  day  (or  ev<'ry 
nian-at-arms,  and  sixpence  for  each  archer.'^     Tliis  is,  per- 

>  Moiuitrelet,  pari  I.  f.  *13.  for  (100  mon-nt-anim,  Incluilitu;  "It  Imn- 

»  K>m.  t.  x.p.  3S«.     TliLi  coDtmct  wiu    nerctnttiia  tlilrty-fourbiulu-lor!!;  nud  for 


86    CAUSES  OF  SUCCESS  OF  THE  ENGLISH.    Chap.  I.  Pakt  H. 

haps,  equal  to  fifteen  times  the  sum  at  our  present  value  of 
money.  They  were  bound,  indeed,  to  furnish  then-  own 
equipments  and  horses.  But  France  was  totally  exhausted 
by  her  civil  and  foreign  war,  and  incompetent  to  defray  the 
expenses  even  of  the  small  force  which  defended  the  wreck 
of  the  monarchy.  Charles  VII.  lived  in  the  utmost  poverty 
at  Bourges.-^  The  nobility  had  scarcely  recovered  from  the 
fatal  slaughter  of  Azincourt  ;  and  the  infantry,  composed  of 
peasants  or  burgesses,  which  had  made  their  ai'my  so  numer- 
ous upon  that  day,  whether  from  inability  to  compel  their 
services,  or  experience  of  their  inefRcacy,  were  never  called 
into  the  field.  It  became  almost  entirely  a  war  of  partisans. 
Every  town  in  Picardy,  Champagne,  Maine,  or  wherever  the 
contest  might  be  carried  on,  was  a  fortress  ;  and  in  the  attack 
or  defence  of  these  garrisons  the  valor  of  both  nations  was 
called  mto  constant  exercise.  This  mode  of  warfare  was 
undoubtedly  the  best  in  the  actual  state  of  France,  as  it 
gradually  improved  her  troops,  and  flushed  them  with  petty 
successes.  But  what  principally  led  to  its  adoption,  was  the 
license  and  insubordination  of  the  royalists,  who,  receiving  no 
pay,  owned  no  control,  and  thought  that,  provided  they  acted 
against  the  English  and  Burgundians,  they  were  free  to  choose 
their  own  points  of  attack.  Nothing  can  more  evidently  show 
the  weakness  of  France  than  the  high  terms  by  which  Charles 
VII.  was  content  to  purchase  the  assistance  of  some  Scottish 
auxiliaries.  The  earl  of  Buchan  was  made  constable ;  the 
earl  of  Douglas  had  the  duchy  of  Touraine,  with  a  new  title, 
lieutenant-general  of  the  kingdom.  At  a  subsequent  time 
Charles  offered  the  province  of  Saintonge  to  James  I.  for  an 
aid  of  6000  men.  These  Scots  fought  bravely  for  France, 
though  unsuccessfully,  at  Crevant  and  Verneuil ;  but  it  must 
be  owned  they  set  a  sufficient  value  upon  their  service.  Un- 
der all  these  disadvantages  it  would  be  unjust  to  charge  the 
French  nation  with  any  inferioidty  of  courage,  even  in  the 
most  unfortunate  periods  of  this  war.  Though  frequently 
panic-struck  in  the  field  of  battle,  they  stood  sieges  of  their 
walled  towns  with  matchless  spirit  and  endurance.  Perhaps 
some  analogy  may  be  found  between  the  character  of  the 

1700  archers ;  bien  et  sufBsamment  mon-  at-arms,  ls.\  and  for  each  archer,   6rf. 

tez,   armez,   et  arraiez  comme    a    leurs  Artillery-men  were     paid     higher    than 

estats  appartient.     The  pay  was,  for  the  men-at-arms. 

earl,  6s.  8'/.  a  day ;  for  a  banneret,  4s. ;  l  Villaret,  t.  xiv.  p.  302. 

for  a  bachelor,  2s. ;  for  every  other  ra&a- 


France.  SIEGE  OF  ORLEAXS.  87 

Frt'iK'h  commonalty  durini:  tlie  English  invasion  and  the 
Siuiniards  of  the  late  peninsular  wiu\  But  to  the  exertions 
of  those  brave  nobles  who  restore^l  the  monju'chy  of  Chai'les 
VII.  Spain  has  aftorded  no  adequate  parallel. 

It  was,  however,  in  the  temper  of  Charles  VII.  that  his  ene- 
mies found  their  chief  advantage.     This  prince  is  character  of 
one  of  the  few  whose  character  has  been  improved  ouariea  vu. 
bv  prosperity.     During  the  calamitous  morning  of  his  reign 
he  shrunk  from  fronting  the  storm,  and  strove  to  forget  him- 
self in  pleasure.     Though  brave,  he  was  never  seen  in  war ; 
though  intelligent,  he  was  governed  by  flatterers.     Those  who 
had  committed  the  assassination  at  ]NIontereau  imder  his  eyes 
were  his  tirst  favorites ;  as  if  he  had  determined  to  avoid  the 
only  measure  through  which  he  could  hope  for  better  success, 
a  reconciliation  with  the  duke  of  Burgundy.     The  count  de 
Richemont,  brother  of  the  duke  of  Britany,  who  became  af- 
terwards one  of  the  chief  pillars  of  his  throne,  consented  to 
renounce  the  English  alliance,  and  accejjt  the  rank  of  consta- 
ble, on  condition  that  these  favorites  should  quit 
the  court.     Two   others,  who  successively  gained  *"' 
a  similar  influence  over  Charles,  Richemont  publicly  caused 
to  be  a^sassiiiateil,  assuring  the  king  that   it  was  for   his  own 
and  tin*  pultlic  good.     Such  was  the  debivsement  of  morals  and 
government  whicli  twenty  years  of  civil  war  had  produced ! 
Another  favorite.  La  Tremouille.  took   the  dangerous  office, 
and,  as  might  be  expected,  employed   his    influence  against 
Richemont,  who  for  some  years  lived  on  his  own  domains, 
rather  as  an  arin<'d  neutral  than  a  friend,  though  he  never 
lost  his  attachment  to  the  royal  cause. 

It  cannot  tlierefore  surprise  us  that  with  all  these  advan- 
tages the  regent  duke  of  Bedford  had  almcjst  complected  the 
ra|»ture  of  the  fortresses  uortli  of  the  Loire  when  sk-gc  of 
h.-   inv.-st.'d   Orl.-ans    in    142S.     If  this   city  had  '"■''■"""• 
falh-n,  tlie  ct-ntral   provinces,  which  were  less  furnished  with 
defeU'ibh-  |)lai"<'S,  W(juld   have  lain  open   to  the  enemy  ;  and  it 
is  siiid   tiiat   Cliarles  VII.  in  despair  was  about   to   ntin-  into 
Dauphine.     At  this  time    his  affairs    were   restore«l    by  one 
of  the  most  inarv»dlous  revolutions   in   history.      A  .loim  of 
country  girl  overthii-w  the  power  of  England.     We  '  "' 
cannot  pretend  to  explain  the  sin-prising  story  of  tlie  i\Iaid  ot 
Orlejins  ;  for,  however  easy  it  may  be  to  suppose  that  a  ln-ated 
and  enthusiitstic  inwigination  produced  her  own  virions,  it  is  a 


88  JOAN  OF  ARC.  Chap.  I.  Part  II. 

much  greater  problem  to  account  for  the  credit  they  obtained, 
and  for  the  success  that  attended  her.  Nor  will  this  be  solved 
by  the  hypothesis  of  a  concerted  stratagem ;  which,  if  we  do 
not  judge  altogether  from  events,  must  appear  liable  to  so 
many  chances  of  failure,  that  it  could  not  have  suggested  it- 
self to  any  rational  person.  However,  it  is  certain  that  the 
appearance  of  Joan  of  Arc  turned  the  tide  of  war,  which 
from  that  moment  flowed  Avithout  interruption  in  Charles's, 
favoi'.  A  su[)erstitious  awe  enfeebled  the  sinews  of  the  Eng- 
lish. They  hung  back  in  their  own  country,  or  deserted  from 
the  army,  through  fear  of  the  incantations  by  which  alone 
they  conceived  so  extraordinary  a  person  to  succeed.^  As 
men  always  make  sure  of  Providence  for  an  ally,  whatever 
untoward  fortune  appeared  to  result  from  preternatural  causes 
was  at  once  ascribed  to  infernal  enemies  ;  and  such  bigotry 
may  be  pleaded  as  an  excuse,  though  a  very  miserable  one, 
for  the  detestable  murder  of  this  heroine.^ 

The  spirit  which  Joan  of  Arc  had  roused  did  not  subside. 

The  king       France  recovered  confidence  in  her  own  strength, 

retrieves        which  had  bccu  cliillcd  by  a  long  course  of  adverse 

IS  a  airs ,     f^^.^m-jg^     -pj^g  king,  too,  shook  off  his  indolence,^ 

1  Rym.  t.  X.  p.  458-472.  This,  how-  giving  up  the  Ijingtlom  as  lost  at  the 
ever,  is  conjecture;  for  the  cause  of  their  time  wlien  Orleans  was  besieged  in  1428. 
desertion  is  not  mentioned  in  these  proc-  Mezeray,  Daniel,  Villaret,  and,  I  believe, 
lamations,  though  llymer  has  printed  every  other  modern  historian,  have  men- 
it  in  their  title.  But  the  duke  of  Bed-  tioned  this  circumstance;  and  some  of 
ford  speaks  of  the  turn  of  success  as  them,  among  whom  is  Hume,  with  the 
astonishing,  and  due  only  to  the  supersti-  addition  that  Agues  threatened  to  leave 
tious  fear  which  the  English  had  con-  the  court  of  Charles  for  that  of  Henry, 
ceived  of  a  female  magician.  Kymer,  t.  affirming  that  she  was  born  to  be  the 
X.  p.  408.  mistress   of  a   great  king.      The    latter 

2  M.  de  I'Averdy,  to  whom  we  owe  part  of  this  tale  is  evidently  a  fabrication, 
the  copious  account  of  the  proceedings  Henry  VI.  being  at  the  time  a  child  of 
against  Joan  of  Arc,  as  well  as  those  seven  years  old.  But  I  have,  to  say  the 
which  Charles  VII.  instituted  in  order  to  least,  great  doubts  of  the  main  story, 
rescind  the  former,  contained  in  the  third  It  is  not  mentioned  by  contemporary 
volume  of  Notices  des  Manuscrits  du  writers.  On  the  contrary,  what  they  say 
Roi,  has  justly  made  this  remark,  which  of  Agnes  leads  me  to  think  the  dates  in- 
is  founded  on  the  eagerness  shown  by  the  compatible.  Agnes  died  (in  childbed,  as 
University  of  Paris  in  the  prosecution,  some  say)  in  1450;  twenty-two  years  after 
and  on  its  being  conducted  before  an  the  siege  of  Orleans.  Monstrelet  says 
inquisitor;  a  circumstance  exceedingly  that  she  had  been  about  five  years  in  the 
remarkable  in  the  ecclesiastical  history  service  of  the  queen  ;  and  the  king  tak- 
of  France.  But  another  material  ob-  iug  pleasure  in  lier  liveliness  and  wit, 
servation  arises  out  of  this.  The  Maid  common  fame  had  spread  abroad  that 
was  pursued  with  peculiar  bitterness  by  she  lived  in  concubinage  with  him.  She 
her  countrymen  of  the  English,  or  rather  certainly  had  a  child,  and  was  willing 
Burgundian,  faction;  a  proof  that  in  that  it  should  be  thought  the  king's  ;  but 
1430  their  animosity  against  Charles  VII.  he  always  denied  it,  et  le  pouvuit  bien 
was  still  ardent.     [Note  XVI.]  avoir  emprunte  ailleurs.     Pt.  iii.    f.   25. 

sit  is  a  current  piece  of  history  that  Olivier  de  la  Marche  another  contempo- 
Agnes  Sorel,  mistress  of  Charles  VII.,  rary,  who  lived  in  the  covirt  of  Burgundy, 
had  the  merit  of  dissuading  him   from     says,  about  the  year  1444,   le  ro^'  avoit 


Fr-Vn-ce. 


AGNES  SOllEL. 


89 


and  permitted  Richeraont  to  exclude  bis  unworthy  favor- 
ites troni  the  court.  Tliis  led  to  a  very  important  conse- 
quence. The  duke  of  Burgundy,  whose  allianee  with  Eng- 
land had  been  only  the  fruit  of  indignation  at  his  father's 
nnn-der.  fell  naturally,  as  that  passion  wore  out,  into  senti- 
ments more  congenial  to  his  birth  and  interests.  A  prince  of 
the  house  of  Capet  could  not  willingly  see  the  inheritance  of 
his  ancestors  transferred  to  a  stranger.  And  he  had  met 
with  provocation  both  from  the  regent  and  the  duke  of  Glou- 
cester, who,  in  contempt  of  all  policy  and  justice,  had  endeav- 
ored, by  an  invalid  marriage  with  Jacqueline,  countess  of 
Hainault   and    Holland,  to  obtain   provinces  which    Biu'gundy 

Yet  the  union  of  his  sister  with  Bed- 


designed  tor  himselt 


nouTellement  esleve  une  pauvro  demoi- 
selle, gentifeiunie,  iiomui<ie  Agnes  Sorel, 
et  mis  en  tel  triumphe  et  tel  pouvoir, 
que  son  estjtt  estoit  a  comparer  au\ 
prandes  princesses  de  royaume,  et  certes 
c'estoit  une  des  plus  belles  feuimes  ijue 
je  vey  oncques,  et  fit  en  sa  qualite  lieau- 
coup  au  rovauuie  de  France.  EUe  iivan- 
^oit  devers  le  roy  jeunes  gens  d'armes  et 
pentiU  compaignons,  et  dont  le  roy  de- 
piiis  fut  bien  servy.  I>a  Marche;  Mem. 
Hist.  t.  Tiii.  p.  14.5.  Du  Clercq,  whose 
memoirs  were  first  published  in  the  same 
collection,  says  that  Agues  mourut  par 
poison  moult  jeune.  Ih.  t.  viii.  p.  410. 
.\nl  the  contiiniatorof  Monstrelet.  prob- 
ably John  Chartier.  speak.s  of  the  youth 
and  bfanty  of  Agnes.  wliiHi  exceeded 
that  of  any  other  woman  in  France,  and 
of  the  favor  shown  her  by  the  tiing, 
which  so  much  excited  the  dlsplenKureof 
the  ilauphin,  on  his  mother's  account, 
and  he  wa.s  sns|H>cted  of  having  caused 
her  to  tjo  poisfjiicil.  fol.  68.  Tlie  same 
writer  afflnns  of  Charles  VII.  that  ho 
w.is.  Iiefure  the  peace  of  .\rri.s.  ile  moult 
tx'ilf  vie  et  devote;  but  afterwards  en- 
laidit  sa  vie  de  t<.-nir  malies  femmes  en 
Bon  hostel.  &c.  fol.  86. 

It  Ls  for  the  reader  to  judge  how  far 
til'  -•'  passages  n>nder  it  improbable  that 
.\_-.'s  .Sore!  was  the  mistress  of  Charles 
Vil.  at  the  siege  of  Orliains  ill  14^.  and, 
cons<-queiitly.  whethiT  she  is  entitled  to 
th'-  Ionise  which  she  h:is  n-'i'ivwl,  of  l>e- 
i  J  iMstriiiiieiital  ill  the  ili'liveraiice  of 
I  1  1  ill-  The  tnidition.  however,  is  as  an- 
cient as  Francis  I.,  who  made  in  her  honor 
a  quatrain  which  is  vtvl\  known.  This 
probably  may  have  lirnnght  the  story 
mure  Into  vogue,  and  li-"!  .Mea'niy,  who 

:  imt  viTy  critical,  to  Insert  it  In  his 
•    rv,  from    which  it  lias  passinl  to  his 

:   ters.     Its  origin  wan  apparently  the 

popular  character  of   .\gne«.    She  wan 


the  Xell  Gwyn  of  France:  and  justly  be- 
loved, not  only  for  her  charity  and  cour- 
tesy, but  for  bringing  forward  men  of 
merit,  and  turning  her  influence,  a  vir- 
tue very  rare  in  her  class,  towards  the 
public  interest.  From  thence  it  wius 
natural  to  bestow  upon  her,  in  after- 
times,  a  merit  not  ill  suited  to  her  char- 
acter, but  which  an  accurate  ob.servation 
of  dates  seems  to  render  impossible.  But 
whatever  honor  I  am  compelled  to  de- 
tract from  Agnes  Sorel,  I  am  willing  to 
transfer  undiminished  to  a  more  nnblem- 
islxnl  female,  the  injured  queen  of  Charles 
\  II..  .Mary  of  .\njou,  who  has  hitherto 
only  shared  with  the  usurper  of  her 
rights  the  credit  of  awakening  Charles 
from  his  lethargy.  Though  I  do  not 
know  on  what  foundation  even  this  rest-s, 
it  is  not  unlikely  to  be  true,  and,  in  def- 
erence to  the  sex,  let  it  pjLss  undisputed. 
Sismondi  (vol.  xiii.  p.  204),  where  ho 
first  mentions  Agnes  Sorel,  says  that 
many  of  the  circumstjinces  tolil  of  her 
iuHuence  over  Charles  VII.  arc  fabulous. 
'■  Cependant  il  fiiut  bieu  qu'Agiifcs  ait 
mtrite,  en  quelque  nianiilre,  la  rcconnois- 
sjinco  qui  s'est  attachee  i  son  nom." 
This  is  a  loose  and  inconclusive  way  of 
reasoning  in  history;  many  popular  tra- 
ditioas  have  no  ba.sis  at  all.  Ami  in 
p.  .%")  he  slights  the  story  told  in  Hran- 
tAine  to  the  honor  of  .\gnes.  lus  well  ho 
might,  since  it  is  ridiculously  untrue  that 
she  threatened  Charles  to  go  to  the  court 
of  Henry  VI.,  knowing  herself  to  bo 
born  to  be  the  mistress  of  a  great  king. 
Sismondi  afterwards  (p.  41*7  and  ('>l>4) 
quotes,  as  I  have  done,  Chartier  and 
Jaci|Ues  du  Clercq;  but  without  adverting 
tfl  the  incongruity  of  their  ilales  with 
the  current  story.  M.  .Miclielct  diH'S  not 
seem  t<i  attach  much  cri'dit  to  it,  tlK'iigh 
ho  ailoptri  the  earlier  datu  fur  the  king's 
attuchmuDt  to  Agnus. 


90  BIPOLICY  OF  THE  ENGLISH.    Chap.  I.  Paet  H. 

ford,  the  obligations  by  which  he  was  bound,  and,  most  of  all, 
the  favor  shown  by  Charles  VII.  to  the  assassins  of  his  father, 
and  is  rec-  kept  him  for  many  years  on  the  English  side,  al- 
ouciied  to       though  rendei'ino;  it  less  and  less  assistance.     But 

the  duke  of 

Burgundy,  at  length  he  concluded  a  treaty  at  Arras,  the  temis 
A.D.  1435.  Qf  -^viiicii  lie  dictated  rather  as  a  conqueror  than  a 
subject  negotiating  with  his  sovereign.  Charles,  however,  re- 
fused nothing  for  such  an  end ;  and,  in  a  very  short  time,  the 
Burgundians  were  ranged  with  the  French  against  their  old 
allies  of  England. 

It  was  now  time  for  the  latter  to  abandon  those  magnificent 
Impolicy  of  projects  of  Conquering  France  wliich  temporary 
the  EngUsh.  circumstances  alone  had  seemed  to  render  feasible. 
But  as  it  is  a  natural  effect  of  good  fortune  in  the  game  of 
war  to  render  a  people  insensible  to  its  gradual  change,  the 
English  could  not  persuade  themselves  that  their  affairs  were 
irretrievably  declining.  Hence  they  rejected  the  offer  of 
Normandy  and  Guienne,  subject  to  the  feudal  superiority  of 
France,  which  was  made  to  them  at  the  congress  of  Arras ;  ^ 
and  some  years  afterwards,  when  Paris,  with  the  adjacent 
provinces,  had  been  lost,  the  English  ambassadors,  tlaough 
empowered  by  their  private  instructions  to  relax,  stood  upon 
demands  quite  disproportionate  to  the  actual  position  of  af- 
fairs.^ As  foreign  enemies,  they  were  odious  even  in  that 
part  of  France  which  had  acknowledged  Henry ;  ^  and 
when  the  duke  of  Burgundy  deserted  their  side,  Paris  and 
The  los  eveiy  other  city  were  impatient  to  throAv  off  the 
all  tiieir  yoke.  A  feeble  monarchy,  and  a  selfish  council, 
A°D.*^r'ti9!"  completed  their  ruin :  the  necessary  subsidies  were 
raised  with  difficulty,  and,  when  raised,  misapplied. 
It  is  a  proof  of  the  exhaustion  of  France,  that  Charles  was 
unable,  for  several  years,  to  reduce  Normandy  or  Guienne, 
which  were  so  ill-provided  for  defence.^     At  last  he  came 


IVillaret  says,  Les  plenipotentiairesde  Charles  V.,  preserving   only    a  homage 

Charles  offrirent  la  cession   de  la  Nor-  per  paragimn,  as   it  was   called,  which 

m.andie  et  de  la  Guienne   en  toute  pro-  implied  no  actual  supremacy.   Monstrelet 

priete  sous   la  clause,  de   Vhommage  d  la  says   only,  que  per  certaines  conditions 

couromie,  t.  xv.  p.  174.    But  he  does  not  luy  seroient  accordees  les  seigneuries  de 

quote  his  authority,  and  I  do  not  like  to  Guienne  et  Normandie. 

rely  on  an  historian  not  eminent  for  ac-  "  See  the  instructions  given  to  the  Eng- 

curacy  in  fact  or  precision  in  language,  lish    negotiators  in   1439,  at  length,  in 

If  his  expression  is  correct,  the  French  Rymer,  t.  x  p.  724. 

must  have  given  up  the  feudal  appeal  or  ^VjHaret,  t.  xiv.  p.  448. 

ressort  which   had  been  the  great  point  4  Amelgard,   from  whose   unpublished 

in    dispute    between    Edward   III.   and  memoirs  of  Charles  VII.  and  Louis  XI. 


France.  LOSS   OF  TIIKIK  CONQUESTS.  91 

with  collected  strength  to  the  contest,  and,  breaking  an  arniis- 
tioe  upon  sliirht  pretences,  within  two  years  overwhehncd  the 
Enghsh  irarrisons  m  each  of  these  provhices.  All  the  inher- 
itance of  Henry  11.  and  Eleanor,  all  the  conquests  of  Edward 
III.  and  Henry  V.  except  Calais  and  a  small  adjacent  district, 
were  irrecoverably  torn  li-om  the  crown  of  England.  A  barren 
title,  that  idle  trophy  of  disappointed  ambition,  was  preserved 
with  strange  obstinacy  to  our  own  age. 

In  these  second  English  wars  we  find  little  left  of  thiit  gen- 
erous feeling  which  had,  in  general,  distinguished  conditioa 
the  contemporaries  of  Edward  III.  The  very  °f,*:'^;,"[«^ 
virtues  which  a  state  of  hostility  promotes  ai'e  not  sccoua 
proof  against  its  long  continuance,  and  sink  at  last  "'''  '* 
into  brutal  fierceness.  Revenge  and  fear  excited  the  two 
factions  of  Orleans  and  Burgundy  to  all  atrocious  actions. 
The  troops  serving  under  partisans  on  detached  ex])edi- 
tions,  according  to  the  system  ot"  the  war,  lived  at  free  quar- 
ters on  the  people.  The  histories  of  the  time  are  full  of 
their  outrages,  from  which,  as  is  the  common  case,  the  unjtro- 
tected  peasantry  most  sutlered.^  Even  those  laws  of  war, 
which  the  courteous  sympathies  of  chivalry  had  enjoined, 
were  disregarded  by  a  merciless  fury.  Garrisons  surrendering 
after  a  brave  defence  were  put  to  death.  Instances  of  this  are 
very  frecpient.  Ilein-y  V.  excepts  Alain  Blanchard,  a  citizen 
who  had  distinguished  himself  during  the  siege,  from  the 
capitulation  of  liouen,  and  orders  him  to  execution.  At  the 
taking  of  a  town  of  Champagne,  John  of  Luxemburg,  the 
Burgundian  general,  stipulates  that  every  fourth  and  sixth 
man    should   be   at   his   discretion ;  wliich   he   exercises  by 

aome  Talualdc  cxtracta  are  made  in  the  si  non  do  crier  miserablement  a  Dieu 
Noticc'H  lU-!*  Miiiiujicrit*,  t.  i.  p.  4<i3,  attrib-  Icur  createur  vi'iiKWince  :  ct  quo  pis 
uto(  the  (Ifliy  in  reoovi-riiig  Xormundy  estfjit,  (iiiiind  iln  obterioient  nuouii  wiuf- 
(olcly  t/j  the  kind'H  clothfulncss  and  con-  conduit  d'aucuiis  capitaines,  p<'U  on  I'stoit 
.•iuality.  Ill  fact  the  po<iploof  that  prov-  cntrotoiiu,  mosiiioniont  tout  dun  parti. 
Inro  r<>-<>  ui^in  the  Kiijjiij'li  and  almost  part  ii.  fol.  IIW.  Tliose  pillajiors  wore 
eniaii<i|iateil  themiH.drc«  with  little  aid  called  Eoorchours,  hooauso  thoy  ntrippod 
fnini  I  harlot!.  the  jtcople  of  thoir  Hhirts.  An.l  this  nnino 
'  MonKtn-lef.  pnc«im.  A  lonR  metrical  Bupersodod  that  of  ArniatrnaoH,  hy  which 
complaint  of  till- |>e<iple  of  Knmre,  curioun  otio  Hide  hail  hithortu  boon  linown.  Kveu 
an  n  f|»-rimeii  of  vor^ifloation.  w  well  an  Xaintraillos  and  I*ii  Hin-,  two  of  the 
a  ti"'tiiiioiiy  to  tlio  mi'fortuiion  of  the  bnivost  cliaiiipioim  of  Kraiico,  were  din- 
time,  mnv  tx-  found  in  thin  hJMtorian,  praced  Ijv  those  liabitH  of  outrajre.  Ihiil. 
part  I.  f.'.l.  ;CJ1.  Notwithstirolinif  the  fol.  144,  l.'.o.  ITf)  Oliv.  do  la  Marolie.  in 
tn-aty  of  .\rni/<,  the  Kn-nrh  and  IturKun-  CuUei-l.  ilos  Memoiros,  t.  viil.  p.  "i"*  I  t.  v. 
diann    made  rontinual    ineurKioiiH    upon  p.  •f2ii. 

earh   other'*  fr«intiern,  ••HjM'clally   about  I'our  la  plupiirt,  »ayn  Villnret,  «<  fair* 

Ijion   and  in   tin-   VennaiidoiH.     So  that  (fuerrier.  on  volour  i|e  (crandit  choniliu, 

the  i>voplo  liad  no  help,  lays  Mumttrelet,  Hlgnitlolt  la  memo  ohoM). 


92  CONDITION  OF  FRANCE.      Chap.  I.  Part  II. 

causing  them  all  to  be  hanged.^  Four  hundred  English  from 
Poutoise,  stormed  by  Charles  VII.  in  1441,  are  paraded  in 
chains  and  naked  through  the  streets  of  Paris,  and  thrown 
afterwards  into  the  Seine.  This  infamous  action  cannot  but 
be  ascribed  to  the  king."-^ 

At  the  expulsion  of  the  English,  France  emerged  from  the 

chaos  with  an  altered  character  and  new  features 

evente'uf  the  ^f  government.     The  royal  authority  and  supreme 

reign  of  iurisdictiou  of  the    parliament  were    universally 

Charles  VII.      *'  •        i        at   ^    .1,  .1  .  i 

i-ecognized.  let  there  was  a  tendency  towards 
msubordination  left  among  the  great  nobility,  arising  in  part 
from  the  remains  of  old  feudal  privileges,  but  still  more  from 
that  lax  administration  which,  in  the  convulsive  struggles  of 
the  war,  had  been  suffered  to  prevail.  In  the  south  were 
some  considerable  vassals,  the  houses  of  Foix,  Albret,  and 
Armagnac,  who,  on  account  of  their  distance  from  the  seat  of 
empire,  had  always  maintained  a  very  independent  conduct. 
The  dukes  of  Britany  and  Burgundy  were  of  a  more  formi- 
dable character,  and  mioht  rather  be  ranked  among:  foreign 
powers  than  privileged  subjects.  The  princes,  too,  of  the 
royal  blood,  who,  during  the  late  reign,  had  learned  to  partake 
or  contend  for  the  management,  were  ill-inclined  tow'ards 
Charles  VII.,  himself  jealous,  from  old  recollections,  of  their 
ascendancy.  They  saw  that  the  constitution  w^as  verging 
rapidly  towards  an  absolute  monarchy,  from  the  direction  of 
which  they  would  studiously  be  excluded.  This  apprehension 
gave  rise  to  several  attempts  at  rebellion  during  the  reign  of 
Charles  VII.,  and  to  the  war,  commonly  entitled,  for  the 
Public  Weal  (du  bien  public),  under  Louis  XL  Among  the 
pretences  alleged  by  the  revolters  in  each  of  these,  the  injuries 
of  the  people  were  not  forgotten  ;  ^  but  from  the  people  they 

1  Monstrelet,  part  ii.  f.  79.    This  John  luy  en  feit    occire    aucuns,   le   quel   y 

of  Luxemburg,  count  de  Ligny.  was  a  prenoit  grand  plaisir.    part  ii.  fol.  95. 

distinguished  captain  on  the  Burgundian  "-  Villaret,  t.  xv.  p.  327. 

side,  and  for  a  long  time  would  not  ac-  3  Tlie  confederacy   formed  at   Nevers 

quiesce  in  the  treaty  of  Arras.     He  dis-  in   1441,  Ijy  the   dukes  of  Orleans   and 

graced  himself  by  giving  up  to  the  duke  Bourbon,  with  many  other  princes,  made 

of  Bedford  his  prisoner  Joan  of  Arc  for  a  variety  of  demands,  all  relating  to  the 

10,000  francs.     The  famous  count  of  St.  grievances  which  different  classes  of  the 

Pol  was  his  nephew,  and  inherited  his  state,  or  indi^-iduals  among  tliemselves, 

great  possessions  in  the  county  of  Ver-  suffered,  under    the    administration   of 

mandois.     Slonstrelet  relates  a  singular  Charles.     These  may  be  found  at  length 

proof  of  the  good  education  wliicli  his  in  Monstrelet,  pt.  ii.  f.  193  ;  and  are  a 

uncle  gave  him.     Some  prisoners  having  curious  document  of  the  change  which 

been  made  in  an  engagement,  si  fut  le  was  then  working  in  the  French  consti- 

jeuue  comte  de  St.  Pol  mis  en  voye  de  tution.     In  liis  answer  the  king  claims 

guerre  ;  car  le  comte  de  Liguy  son  oucle  the  right,  in  urgent  cases,  of  levying  ta.\es 


Fr-oxe.  events  under  citarles  vn.  93 

received  small  support.  AVeary  of  civil  dissension,  and 
anxious  tor  a  strong  government  to  secure  them  from  depre- 
dation, the  French  had  no  inducement  to  intrust  even  tlieir 
real  grievances  to  a  few  malcontent  princes,  whose  regard 
I'or  the  common  good  they  had  much  reason  to  distrust. 
Every  circumstance  favored  Charles  YII.  and  his  son  in  the 
attaiumcni  ot"  arbitrary  power.  The  country  was  pillaged  hy 
military  ruttians.  Some  of  these  had  been  led  by  tlie  dauphin 
to  a  war  in  Germany,  but  the  remainder  still  infested  the 
high  roads  and  villages.  Charles  established  his  companies 
of  ordonnance,  the  basis  of  the  French  regulm-  army,  in  order 
to  protect  the  country  from  such  depredators.  They  con- 
sisted of  about  nine  thousand  soldiers,  all  cavalry,  or"  whom 
titleen  hundred  were  heavy  armed ;  a  force  not  very  consid- 
erable, but  the  tii'st,  except  mere  body-guards,  which  had  been 
raised  in  any  part  of  Europe  as  a  national  standing  army.^ 
These  troops  were  paid  out  of  the  produce  of  a  permanent 
tax.  called  the  taille  ;  an  innovation  still  more  important  than 
the  former.  But  the  ])resent  benefit  cheating  the  peojjle,  now 
prone  to  submissive  habits,  little  or  no  opposition  was  made, 
except  in  Guienne,  the  inhaljitauts  of  which  had  speedy  reason 
to  regret  the  mild  government  of  Flngland,  and  vainly  endeav- 
ored to  return  to  it<  protection.- 

It  wa-  not   long  before  the  new  despotism  exhibited  itself 

without  waiting  for  the  coMient  of  the  to  the  same  servitude  as    the  rest  of 

Stjitcs-fieiK-nil.  Fninro,  where  the  leeches  of  the  state 

>  <  »li\  icr  Jfl  a  Mnrche  speaks  very  murh  bol<lly  maintain  ap  a  fumianiontal  maxim, 

In  lavnr  of  thi- i-onipanii-s  of  oriliinnaiiif,  that  tlie  king  has  a  rifrlit  to  tax  all  his 

aii  having  represseJ  tlie  plunilerers.  ami  subjects  how  and  when  he  plca'ses  :  wliich 

n-jitored    internal    police.      Collect,    des  is  to  advance  that  in  France  no  man  has 

Slt-moircs,  t.  viii.  p.  148.     Amelgard  pro-  anything  that  he  can  call  his  own.  and 

nounces   a   vehement    philippic   against  that  the  king  can  take  all  at  his  plea.sure  ; 

them  ;  hut  it  is  pnitiahle  th;it  his  ohser-  the   proper   condition   of   slaves,   whoso 

ration  of  tlie  b1ius<-s  they  had  fallen  into  peculiuni  enjoyed  hy  their  master's  per- 

was  confinwl   to  the  reign  of  Louis  XI.  mi.ssion  belongs  to  him,  like  their  persons, 

Notices  des  Mannticrits.  ubi  snpri.  and   may   be    taki'n   away  whenever   ho 

»  The  insurrection  of  (iuienne  in  1452,  chooses.     Thus   situated,  the   people  of 

which   for  a   few   months   restored    that  tJuii'iine,  especially   those  of  liordi'aux, 

province   to   the   Knglish   crown,   is   ac-  alarmed  themselves,  and,  exciteil  hy  some 

counteil  fr)r  in  the  cnriouB  memoirs  of  of  the  nobility,  secretly  sought  about  for 

AnielgTiril.   alKive    mentioned.      It    pro-  means  to  regain  their  ancient  freedom  ; 

c«-<-.iei|   solely   from    the   arbitrary   tiixcs  anil  having  still  many  connections  with 

linf>oM-d    by    Charles    VII.    in    order    to  persons  of  nink  in  Kngland,  they  nego- 

defniv  tlie  exix-iiM-s  of  his  rc-gular  army,  tiated  with  them,  &c.    Notii-es  des  .Maiiu- 

Th.    •         ■        •    llopleaiix  complaiiicl  of  scriti,  p.  4.'!.'t.    The  same  cause  is  assigned 

ex.1  uidy  contniry  to  their  an-  to  this  revriliition  by  Du  Clercn.  also  n 

rliii'    ,    .        ^' ■",  but  to  the  positive  eon-  contemporary   writer,  living   in    lb"'  do- 

dilionn  ot   their  capitulation.     Hut   the  minions   of  'llurgundy.     Colleclion    des 

king    was    iU-a{  to  such    remonstnmces.  Memoires,  t.  ix.  p.  4<KI.     Villaret  has  not 

The  priiviiice  of  (iuienne,  he  wiys.  then  kn<iwn,  or  not  chosen  to  know,  anything 

pt-rceited  that  it  waii  meant  to  subject  it  of  the  matter. 


94  LOUIS  XI.  Chap.  I.  Part  II. 

in  its  harshest  character.    Louis  XI.,  son  of  Charles 
yil.,  who,  during  his  father's  reign,  liad  been  con- 
nected with  the  discontented   princes,   came  to   the    throne 
gi'eatly  endowed  with  those  virtues  and  vices  which  coiispire 
T,„,        to  the  success  of  a  king.     Laborious  vigilance  in 

A.D.  1461.  .   .  ^ 

His  char-  busiiiess.  Contempt  of  pomp,  atfability  to  inferiors, 
a'=ter.  were  his  excellences ;  qualities  especially  praise- 

worthy in  an  age  characterized  by  idleness,  love  of  pageantry, 
and  insolence.  To  these  virtues  he  added  a  perfect  knowledge 
of  all  persons  eminent  for  talents  or  influence  in  the  countries 
with  which  he  was  connected,  and  a  well-judged  bounty,  that 
thought  no  expense  wasted  to  draw  them  into  his  service  or 
interest.  In  the  fifteenth  century  this  poUtical  art  had  hardly 
been  known,  except  perhaps  in  Italy  ;  the  princes  of  Europe 
had  contended  with  each  other  by  arms,  sometimes  by  treach- 
ery, but  never  with  such  complicated  subtlety  of  intrigue. 
Of  that  insidious  cunning,  which  has  since  been  brought  to 
perfection,  Louis  XI.  may  be  deemed  not  absolutely  the 
inventor,  but  the  most  eminent  improver ;  and  its  success  has 
led,  perhaps,  to  too  high  an  estimate  of  his  abilities.  Like 
most  bad  men,  he  sometimes  fell  into  his  own  snare,  and  was 
betrayed  by  his  confidential  ministers,  because  his  confidence 
was  generally  reposed  in  the  wicked.  And  his  dissimulation 
was  so  notorious,  his  tyranny  so  oppressive,  that  he  was  nat- 
urally surrounded  by  enemies,  and  had  occasion  for  all  his 
craft  to  elude  those  rebellions  and  confederacies  which  might 
perhaps  not  have  been  raised  against  a  more  upright  sover- 
eign.^ At  one  time  the  monarchy  was  on  the  point  of  sinking 
before  a  combination  which  would  have  ended  in  dismember- 
ing France.  This  was  the  league  denominated  of  the  Public 
League  Weal,  in  which  all  the  princes  and  great  vassals  of 

denominated  the  French  crown  were  concerned :  the  dukes  of 
WeaL  "  "^  Britany,  Burgundy,  Alenfon,  Bourbon,  the  count 
A.D.  1161.  of  Dunois,  so  renowned  for  his  valor  in  the  English 
wars,  the  families  of  Foix  and  Armagnac ;  and  at  the  head 

1  Sismondi  (vol.  xiv.  p.  312)  and  Mich-  against  his  enemies,  and  especially  against 

elet  (vol.  ix.  p.  347)  agree  in  thinking  his  rebellious  subjects.    Louis  composed 

Louis  XI.  no  worse  than  other  kings  of  for  his  son's  use,  or  caused  to  be  com- 

his  age  ;  in  fact  the  former  seems  rarely  posed  a  political    treatise  entitled   '  Le 

to  make  a  distinction  between  one  king  Rosier  des   Guerres,'   which   has    never 

and  another.     Louis  was  just  and  even  been  published.     It  is  written  in  a  spirit 

attentive  towards  the  lower  people,  and  of  public  morality  very  unlike  his  prac- 

gpared  the  blood  of  his  .soldiers.     But  he  tice.    (Sismondi,  vol.  xiv.  p.  616.)    Thus 

had  imbibed  a  notion  that  treachery  and  two  royal  Anti-Machiavels  have  satirized 

cruelty   could    not    be    carried   too  far  themselves. 


Fkaxce.  LILVGUE  of  THE  PUBLIC  WEAL.  — AITAXACKS.     03 

of  all.  Charles  duke  of  Berry,  the  king's  brother  ;uul  pri-- 
suiii|itive  heir.  So  uiianiinoiis  a  eombiiiation  was  not  furiiicj 
without  a  strong  provocation  from  the  king,  or  at  least  with- 
out weighty  grounds  for  distrusting  his  intentions ;  but  the 
more  remote  cause  of  this  confederacy,  as  of  those  which  had 
been  rai-ed  against  Charles  VII.,  was  the  critical  iK)sitiun  of 
the  feudal  aristocracy  from  the  increasing  power  of  the  crown. 
This  war  of  the  Public  Weal  was,  in  fact,  a  struggle  to  pre- 
serve their  independence  ;  and  from  the  weak  charactiu-  of 
the  duke  of  Berry,  whom  they  would,  if  successful,  have 
placed  upon  the  throne,  it  is  possible  that  France  might  have 
lieen  in  a  manner  jiartitioned  among  them  in  the  event  of 
their  success,  or,  at  least,  that  liin-gundy  and  liritany  would 
have  thrown  oti"  the  sovereignty  that  galled  them.^ 

The  strength  of  the  confederates  in  this  war  much  exceeded 
that  of  the  king ;  but  it  was  not  judiciously  employed  ;  and 
afti-r  an  indecisive  battle  at  Montllicry  they  tailed  in  the  great 
object  of  reducing  Paris,  which  W(ndd  have  obliged  Louis  to 
flv  from  his  dominions.  It  was  his  policy  to  promise  every- 
thing, in  trust  that  fortune  would  atibrd  some  opening  to 
repair  his  losses  and  give  scope  to  his  superior  prudence. 
Accordingly,  by  the  treaty  of  Conflans,  he  not  only  surren- 
dered afresh  the  towns  upon  the  Somme,  which  he  had  lately 
redeemed  from  the  duke  of  IJiu'gundy,  but  invested  his  brother 
with  the  duchy  of  Normandy  as  his  appanage. 

The-  term  appanage  denotes  the  provision  made  for  the 
younger  childn-n  of  a  king  of  France.  Tiiis  always 
consisted  of  lands  and  feudal  superiorities  held  of  PP^nages. 
the  crown  by  the  tenure  of  peerage.  It  is  evident  that  this 
usage,  a-s  it  produced  a  new  class  of  powerful  feudalaries,  was 
hostile  to  the  interests  and  policy  of  the  sovereign,  and  re- 
tarded the  subjugation  of  the  ancient  aristocracy.  But  an 
u-fyige  coeval  with  the  monarchy  was  not  to  be  abrogated,  and 
the  s<'arcity  of  money  rendered  it  inii)o>sible  to  [)rovi(Ie  i()r  tiie 
younger  branches  of  the  royal  family  by  any  other  means.  It 
wa«  rer-trained.  however,  as  f;»r  as  circumstances  would  permit. 
Philip  IV.  declared  that  the  county  of  Poitiers,  bestowed  by 

>  f  L<tiionill  hiM  a  jiint  otwurrntion  on  ^W  proolnm^!  ;  c'c/it  quo  1<>  Mon   pulillo 

«hr    Ix^;.-'!'-    'tf  thi-    I'liMir   Willi.     "  I/<!  doit  L-tn'   !(•  luit  ilu  f;f«iiviTiii'mi'iit  ;  lual'l 

'f-n   I'ulillr,  rjui  fut  ■loniii':  leu  prliircHciui  H'liMwiciali'iit  piiiirriiljtclilr 

•  lit  nil  li»iiiniiiKi>  nil  pro-  (tiilcnt  fiicon-  lii<'ii  p''U  <'ii  '•'J''  •I"  "^"'e 

(ff  *    1'-    iiinii.rvd  ;  r'ftnlt   U   pmrcixiioii  nuitru  Ml  luiturt'.''     (xiv.  I'il.) 

duu  j.riiicljM.-  i|ul  n'jTiilt  polut  ciicoro 


96  APPANAGES.  Chap.  I.  Part  II. 

him  on  his  son,  should  revert  to  the  crown  on  the  extinction 
of  male  heirs.  But  this,  thougli  an  important  precedent,  was 
not,  as  has  often  been  asserted,  a  general  law.  Charles  V. 
limited  the  appanages  of  his  own  sons  to  twelve  tliousand 
livres  of  annual  value  in  land.  By  means  of  their  appanages, 
and  tlii'ougli  the  operation  of  the  Salic  law,  which  made  their 
inheritance  of  the  crown  a  less  remote  contingency,  the  princes 
of  the  blood  royal  in  France  were  at  all  times  (for  the  remark 
is  applicable  long  after  Louis  XI.)  a  distinct  and  formidable 
class  of  men,  whose  intiuence  was  always  disadvantageous  to 
the  reigning  monarch,  and,  in  general,  to  the  people. 

No  appanage  had  ever  been  granted  to  France  so  enormous 
as  the  duchy  of  Normandy.  One  third  of  the  whole  national 
revenue,  it  is  declai'ed,  was  derived  from  that  rich  province. 
Louis  could  not,  therefore,  sit  down  under  such  terms  as,  with 
his  usual  insincerity,  he  had  accepted  at  Contlans.  In  a  very 
short  time  he  attacked  Normandy,  and  easily  compelled  his 
brother  to  take  refuge  in  Britany ;  nor  were  his  enemies'  ever 
able  to  procure  the  restitution  of  Charles's  appanage.  Dur- 
ing the  rest  of  his  reign  Louis  had  powerful  coalitions  to  with- 
stand ;  but  his  prudence  and  compliance  with  circumstances, 
joined  to  some  mixture  of  good  fortune,  brought  him  safely 
through  his  perils.  The  duke  of  Britany,  a  prince  of  moder- 
ate talents,  was  unable  to  make  any  formidable  impression, 
though  generally  leagued  with  the  enemies  of  the  king.  The 
less  powerful  vassals  were  successfully  crushed  by  Louis  with 
decisive  vigor ;  the  duchy  of  Alen^on  was  confiscated ;  the 
count  of  Armagnac  was  assassinated ;  the  duke  of  Nemours,  and 
the  constable  of  St.  Pol,  a  politician  as  treacherous  as  Louis, 
who  had  long  betrayed  both  him  and  the  duke  of  Burgundy, 
suffered  upon  the  scaffold.  The  king's  brother  Charles,  after 
disquieting  him  for  many  years,  died  suddenly  in  Guienne, 
which  had  finally  been  granted  as  his  appanage,  with  strong 
1472  suspicions  of  having  been  poisoned  by  the  king's 
contrivance.-^  Edward  IV.  of  England  was  too 
dissipated  and  too  indolent  to  be  fond  of  war  ;  and,  though  he 
once  entered  France  with  an  army  more  considera- 
ble than  could  have  been  expected  after  such  civil 
bloodshed  as  England  had  witnessed,  he  was  induced,  by  the 


'  Sismondi.  however,  and  Michelet  do    was  poisoned  by  his  brother ;  he  had  been 
not  believe   that   the  duke  of  Guienne    ill  for  several  months. 


fk.\.\ce.  house  of  burguxdy.  07 

stipulation  of  a  large  pension,  to  give  up  the  enterprise.^  So 
terrible  was  still  in  France  the  a|)])rehcnsiun  of  an  En>z^lish 
Win;  that  Louis  prided  himself  uj)oii  no  j)art  of  his  j)oliev  so 
much  luj  the  warding  this  blow.  Edward  showed  a  desire  to 
visit  Paris  ;  but  the  king  gave  him  no  invitation,  lest,  he  said, 
his  brother  should  hud  some  handsome  women  there,  who 
might  tempt  him  to  return  in  a  different  manner,  lla-tings, 
Howard,  and  others  of  Edward's  ministers,  were  secured  by 
bril>es  in  the  interest  of  Louis,  which  the  first  of  these  did 
not  scruple  to  receive  at  the  same  time  from  the  duke  of 
Burgundy."^ 

This  was    the  most   powerful   enemy  whom   the  craft  of 
Louis  had  to  counteract.     In  the  last  days  of  the  feudal  svs- 
tem,  when  the  house  of  Capet  had  almost  achieved  the  subju- 
gation of  those  proud  vassals  among  whom  it  had    iiouseof 
been  originally  numbered,  a  new  antagonist  S])run'>-   ^"rgunay. 
up  to  dispute  the  held  against  the   crown.     John   ."Vaciiul- 
king  of  France  granted  the  duchy  of  Burgundy,  by  "tjous. 
way  of  appanage,  to  his  third  son.  Philip.     By  his  marriage 
with  3Iargaret,  heiress  of  Louis  count  of  Flanders,  Philip  ac- 
quired that  i)rovince,  Artois,  the  county  of  Burgundy  (or  Fran- 
che-c-omte),  and  the  Nivernois.     Philip  the  Good,  his  grandson, 
who  carried  the  i)rositerity  of  this  fixmily  to  its  height,  pos- 
sessed himself,  by  various  titles,  of  the  several  other  provinces 
which   comjMjsed  tiie  Netherlands.     These  were  fiefs  of  the 
empire,  but  latterly  not  niucli  dependent  upon  it,  and  alienated 
i>y  their  owners  without  its  consent.     At  the  peace  of  Arras 
the  districts  of  Macon  and  Auxerre  were  absolutely  ceded  to 
Philip,  and  great  part  of  Picardy  conditionally  made  over  to 
him,  reileemable   on  the  payment  of  tour   innidred   thousand 
crowns."     These  extensive,  though    not    compact    domiuious, 

'The  army  of   E.I»:irl  oondistcj  of  will    not  have  it    said  tliat   the  Great 
l.'yx)  men  at   arniH  ami  U.'M  arrhere ;  Cliamhorliiiii  of  EnKland   in  a  jionsioiuT 
tli<- wliol,.  very  wvll  a|i|Kiliit4.-<i.    ('oiiiinen,  of    tlii'   kiiit;    of    Fnmcc,    nor    li.ivc    my 
f    xi.  ],.  -2^.     There  Kwmn  to  have  Imhmi  name  ap|je:ir  in  the  books  of  the  Cham- 
it  i-x|Mrct-ieion  of  what   the  KiiKll-'h  brcM  (Jes  Comptes."     IhiJ 
I  •!'■.  niiJ  (?r<-at  feani  entorUim-U  Ijy         J  The  duke  of  Hur)<iiiidy  was   person- 

■  errudgul  uo  cipcuiie  to  gut  ally  exeiised  from  all  hMiiiaRe  ami -ervUe 
'  to  CharleH  VJI.:  but.  if  either  died,  it 
-.  1.  Tl.  c.  2.      Ilaiitlnipi  had  wax    to   !>«   paid   by   the  lii'ir,  or   to   the 

■  iMinlfiK  •"  rcfuM-  to  i;ive  liix  heir.  Aerordiiiciv,  on  ClmrlenN  death 
'  ■'.-  ^  ""-'  t""""'""  he  took  fnim  I'hilip  did  homage  to  Louis.  This  ex- 
l>.»n  XI.  "Thli.  pn-«-nt,  he  Kaid  to  the  emption  ran  hardh,  thrnlnre,  li.ive  been 
kinif  a  ■^''-nt.  rouH-ji  fnim  your  nui»ter'H  inni-rted  to  (jnitify'the  pride  of  I'bllip,  a.i 
jf««I  plejuun-,  and  not  at  my  n'<iueHt;  hinlorianM  Huppoiie.  Ih  it  not  pmbable 
and  If  >ou  nii-nn  I  nhoiild  n-relve  It,  you  that,  durini;  bin  renentment  aK'abixt 
may  put  It  hen-  lnt«i  my  xlifve,  hut  you  Cliarlen,  he  inkht  have  nnule  Mcme  vow 
>l>nll  havu  uo  dlncliarKe  from  me ;  for  1  never   to    do   him    homage  ;    which    thii 

Vol..    I.  7 


98  CHARLES  OF  BURGUNDY.      Ch.vp.  I.  Part  II. 

were  abundant  in  population  and  wealth,  fertile  in  corn, 
wine,  and  salt,  and  full  of  commercial  activity.  Thirty 
years  of  peace  which  followed  the  treaty  of  Arras,  with  a 
mild  and  free  government,  raised  the  subjects  of  Burgundy  to 
a  degree  of  prosj)erity  quite  unparalleled  in  these  times  of 
disorder,  and  this  was  displayed  in  general  sumptuousness  of 
dress  and  feasting.  The  court  of  Philip  and  of  his  son 
Charles  was  distinguished  for  its  pomp  and  riches,  for  pag- 
eants and  tournaments ;  the  trappings  of  chivalry,  perhaps 
without  its  spirit ;  for  the  military  character  of  Burgundy  had 
been  impaired  by  long  tranquillity. ■^ 

During  the  lives  of  Philip  and  Charles  VII.  each  under- 
„.  stood  the  other's  rank,  and  their  amity  was  little  in- 

of  Charles  tcrruptcd.  But  their  successors,  the  most  opposite 
Burgundy.  ^^  human  kind  in  character,  had  one  common 
quality,  ambition,  to  render  their  antipathy  more 
powerful.  Louis  was  eminently  timid  and  suspicious  in  policy  ; 
Charles  intrepid  beyond  all  men,  and  blindly  presumptuous : 
Louis  stooped  to  any  humiliation  to  reach  his  aim ;  Charles 
was  too  haughty  to  seek  the  fairest  means  of  strengthen- 
ing his  party.  An  alliance  of  his  daughter  with  the  duke 
of  Guienne,  brother  of  Louis,  was  what  the  malecontent 
French  princes  most  desired  and  the  king  most  dreaded ;  but 
Charles,  either  averse  to  any  French  connection,  or  willing 
to  keep  his  daughter's  suitors  in  dependence,  would  never 
directly  accede  to  that  or  any  other  proposition  for  her  mar- 
riage. On  Philip's  death  in  1467,  he  inherited  a  great  treasure, 
which  he  soon  wasted  in  the  prosecution  of  his  schemes.  These 
were  so  numerous  and  vast,  that  he  had  not  time  to  live,  says 
Comines,  to  complete  them,  nor  would  one  half  of  Europe 
have  contented  him.     It  was  his  intention  to  assume  the  title 

reservatioa  in  the  treaty  was  intended  to  treaty  Philip  is  entitled   duke   by  the 

preserve?  grace   of  God;     whi';h   was   reckoned   a 

It  is  remarkable  that  Villaret  says  the  mark  of  independence,  and  not  usually 

duke   of  Burgundy   was    positively   ex-  permitted  to  a  vassal, 
cused  by  tlie  25th  article  of  the  peace  of        l  P.  de  Comines,  1.  i.  o.  2  and  3;   1.  v. 

Arras  from  doing  homage  to  Charles,  or  c.  9.     Du  Clercq,  in  Collection   des   Me- 

his  successors  kings  of  France,  t.  xvi.  p.  moires,  t.  ix.  p.  389.     In  the  investiture 

"104.     For  this  assertion  too  he  seems  to  granted  by  John  to  the  first  Philip  cf 

quote   the  Tresor    des   Chartes,    where,  Burgundy,  a    reservation  is   made  that 

probably,  the  original  treaty  is  preserved,  the  royal  taxes  shall  be  levied  throughout 

Nevertheless,   it    appears    otherwise,   as  that  appanage.      But   during   the   long 

published  by  Monstrelet  at  full  length,  hostility  between  the  kingdom  and  duchy 

who  could  liave  no  motive  to  falsify  it ;  this  could  not  have  been  enforced  :  and 

and  Philip's  conduct  in  doing  homage  to  by  the   treaty  of  Arras  Charles  surren- 

Louis  is  hardly  compatible  with  Villaret's  dered  all  right  to  tax  the  duke's  domin- 

assertion.       Daniel     copies     Monstrelet  ions.    Monstrelet,  f.  114. 
without  any  observation.    In  the  same 


Fr-vxce.  INSUBORDIXATION  OF  O'.l 

of  King;  and  the  emperor  Frederic  III.  was  at  one  time  :ut- 
ually  on  his  road  to  confer  this  dijrnity,  wlien  some  suspicion 
caused  him  to  retire,  and  the  project  wa-;  never  renewed.*  It 
is  evident  that,  if  Cliark-s's  capacity  had  borne  any  projior- 
tion  to  his  pride  and  courage,  or  if  a  prince  less  pohtic  than 
Louis  XI.  ha<l  been  his  contemporary  in  France,  tlie  prov- 
ince of  Burgundy  must  have  been  lost  to  the  monarcliy.  For 
several  years  these  great  rivals  were  engaged,  sometimes  in 
open  hostihty,  sometimes  in  endeavors  to  overreach  each 
other;  but  Cliarle-.  thougli  not  much  more  scrnpnlons  was 
far  less  an  adi'i)t  in  these  mysteries  of  politics  than  the  king. 

Notwithstanding  the  power  of  Burgundy,  there  were  some 
disiidvantaires    in    its    situation.       It   presented   (I   ^     ^    ,. 

1        x-      11    /~ii        1      .       1        •    •  1  1  InsuborJi- 

speak  ot  all  Charles  s  dominions  under  the  com-  nation  of 
raon  name.  Burgundy)  a  very  exposed  frontier  on  JlJ^^*''^^'"'*** 
the  side  of  Germany  and  Switzerland,  as  well  as 
Fi*ance  ;  and  Louis  exerted  a  considerable  influence  over  the 
adjacent  princes  of  tlie  empire  a-  well  as  the  United  Cantons. 
Tlie  people  of  Liege,  a  very  populous  city,  had  for  a  long 
time  l)een  contiiniaUy  relielling  against  tlieir  bishops,  who 
were  the  allies  of  Burgundy  ;  Louis  was  of  course  not  back- 
ward to  foment  their  insurrections,  which  sometimes  gave  the 
dukes  a  g(X)d  <leal  of  trouble.  Tlie  Flemings,  and  especially 
the  people  of  (ihent,  had  been  during  a  century  noted  for 
their  republican  spirit  ami  contumacious  defiance  of  their  sov- 
ereign. Liberty  never  wore  a  more  unamiable  countenance 
than  among  these  Imrgliers.  who  abused  the  strength  she 
gave  them  by  cruelty  and  insolence.  Ghent,  when  Froissart 
wrote,  alK>ut  the  year  1400,  was  one  of  the  strongest  cities  in 
Europe,  and  woiiM  have  required,  he  says,  an  army  of  two 
huniired  thousiiid  men  to  besiege  it  on  every  side,  so  as  to 
shut  up  all  access  by  the  Lys  and  Scheldt.  It  contained 
eighty  tliousiuid  men  of  age  to  bear   arms  ;  ^   a   calculation 

»  narnler.  t.  xtIII.  p. 02.     It  Uohsem-  taincd  to  tho  French  crown,  with  Fmn- 

hW  "    •'                              t  a  wonl  of  tliln ;  che-<-onit^-iin<l  otiicr  <-oiintrii-s  wliirh  liiut 

f""                                             to  hudU?  Kel'-A-  tx'Inni^L-d    to    the  kiin;.loiii  of  Hiii-Kiiiiilv. 

rio                            -...ii Hut  Henri'  hr- tiilkcil  lit   I)iji>n.  ill  UT.'i.  to  the 

f»'                        wliiMi    M                      l,oiii«"«  fdtiitcn  of  tlie  former,  iilmut  the  kin),'<loiii 

ct>  >                   i-.<l  ineiin.                    I-   hliii.  of  KnrKMinlv.   '•  .|ue  reiix  ^le  Fnilicc  out 

InlrrriipCr.!  (lie  omior  with  llii^- worili  :  loii);t<MnH    iiKiir|>/'  et   (I'irehil  fiiit  clurln-: 

Jr  Trux  4Ur  rhnriinMiirhei|ii«>.ii|j'eilw<«  que   toiiH  leu  HiijetK  doivent  liieii  nvoir  i 

Toulu,    >•    fiUM   TtA.      Vlllaret,  t.    xrU.  n-im-t.et  illt  riull  nvnit  en  w>l  il<-t  "lio'en 

P   ♦<■  i|u'il    n'n|i|i:irt4Miiiit  ile  wivojr  i  mil  -Hl'i 

■  ■■      .   .  1.-  I  ,  -,..;,    r'  ••   n  of  hlxtory,  lul,"     Mlrhelet  (Ix.  ItPJ)   !;<  the  flr-t  who 


■II 


r   <lnrhy     hiiH  piihlinhe.!  iIiIh. 


'■'   i  ■  I  ...Aiiyn  u|)|MT-        3  Kroliuuirt,  jinrt  11    r.  117 


100  THE  FLEMISH  CITIES.        Chap.  I.  Part  II. 

which,  ahhough,  as  I  presume,  much  exaggerated,  is  evidence 
of  great  actual  populousness.  Such  a  city  was  absohitely  im- 
pregnable at  a  time  when  artillei-y  was  very  imperfect  both  in 
its  construction  and  management.  Hence,  though  the  citizens 
of  Ghent  were  generally  beaten  in  the  field  with  great  slaugh- 
ter, they  obtained  tolerable  terms  from  their  masters,  who 
knew  the  danger  of  forcing  them  to  a  desperate  defence. 

No  taxes  wei-e  raised  in  Flanders,  or  indeed  throughout 
the  dominions  of  Burgundy,  without  consent  of  the  three  es- 
tates. In  the  time  of  Philip  not  a  great  deal  of  money  was 
levied  upon  the  people  ;  but  Charles  obtained  every  year  a 
pretty  large  subsidy,  which  he  expended  in  the  hire  of  Ital- 
ian and  English  mercenaries.^  An  almost  uninterrupted  suc- 
cess had   attended  his  entei'prises  for  a  length  of  time,  and 

J  rendex'ed  his  disposition    still  more   overweening. 

His  first  failure  was  before  Neuss,  a  little  town 
near  Cologne,  the  possession  of  which  would  have  made  him 
nearly  master  of  the  whole  course  of  the  Rhine,  for  he  had 
already  obtained  the  landgraviate  of  Alsace.  Though  com- 
pelled to  raise  the  siege,  he  succeeded  in  occupying,  next  year, 
the  duchy  of  Lorraine.  But  his  overthrow  was  reserved  for 
an  enemy  whom  he  despised,  and  whom  none  could  have 

^,.  thought  equal  to  the  contest.  The  Swiss  had  given 
him  some  slight  provocation,  for  which  they  were 
ready  to  atone ;  but  Charles  was  unused  to  foi'bear ;  and 
perhaps  Switzerland  came  within  his  projects  of  conquest. 
At  Granson,  in  the  Pays  de  Vaud,  he  was  entirely  routed, 
with    more    disgrace    than    slaughter.^      But    having    reas- 


1  Comines,  1.  iv.  c.  13.     It  was  very  re-  doute  faisoient  les  sujets,  et  pour  plu- 

luctantly  that  the  Flemings  granted  any  sieurs  raisons,  de   se  mettre  en  cette  su- 

money.     Philip    once   begged  for  a  tax  jetion   oii    ils   voyoient    le   royaume   de 

on  salt,  promising  never  to  ask  anything  France,  i  cause  de  ses  gens  d'armes.   A  la 

more  :  but  the  people  of  Ghent,  and,  in  verite,  leur  grand  doute  n'estoit  pas  sans 

imitation  of  them,  the  whole  county,  re-  cause  ;  car  ([uand  il  se  troura  cinq  cens 

fused  it.     Du  Clercq,  p.  389.     Upon  his  hommes  d'armes,  la  volonte  Iviy  Tint  d"en 

pretence  of  taking  the  cross,  they  granted  avoir  plus,  et  de  plus   hardiment  entre- 

hini  a  subsidy,  though  less  than  he  had  prendre  contre  tous  ses  voisins.   Comines, 

requested,  on   condition   that  it  should  1.  iii.  c.  4,  9. 

not  be  levied  if  the  crusade  did  not  take  Du  Clercq,  a  contemporai-y  writer  of 
place,  which  put  an  end  to  the  attempt,  very  good  authority,  mentioning  the 
Tlie  states  knew  well  that  the  duke  would  .story  of  a  certain  widow  who  had  re- 
employ any  money  they  gave  him  in  keep-  married  the  day  after  her  husband's 
ing  up  a  body  of  gens-d"arnies,  like  his  death,  says  that  she  was  in  some  degi'ce 
neighbor,  the  king  of  France  ;  and  though  excusable,  because  it  was  the  practice  of 
the  want  of  such  a  force  exposed  their  the  duke  and  his  officers  to  force  rich  wld- 
country  to  pillage,  they  were  too  good  ows  into  marrying  their  soldiers  or  other 
patriots  to  place  the  means  of  en.slaving  servants,  t.  ix.  p.  418. 
it  in  thehandsof  theirsovereign.    Grand  -K    famous    diamond,    belonging    to 


Fra>-ce.  claim  01-    Lons  XI.  101 

sembled  his  troops,  ami  met  tlie  confeilerate  army   Defoatsof 
of  S\vis^  ami  Germans  at  Morat,  near  Fril)urg,  he    ur-'liifu'" 
was  again  defeated  with  vast  loss.     On   this  dav   ""•'  -^i>j>"t. 
the    power    of    Burgundy    was    dissipated :    deserted  hv  his 
allies,  betrayed  by  his  mercenaries,  he  set  his  lite    His.uiitii. 
upon   anutiier   east    at    Naney,   desperately  giving   a. d.  1477. 
battle  to  the  duke  of  Lorraine  with  a  small  dispiriteil  nnnv, 
and  perished  in  the  engagement. 

Now  was  the  moment  when  Louis,  who  had  held  back 
while  his  enemy  was  Ijreaking  his  force  against  the  ciaim  of 
rocks  of  Switzerland,  came  to  gather  a  harvest  h'Vi'Vy' 
which  his  labor  had  not  reaped.  Charles  left  an  cosmou  of 
only  daughter,  undoubted  heiress  of  Flanders  and  *"»=""'JJ' 
Artois,  as  well  as  of  his  dominions  out  of  France,  but  whose 
right  of  succession  to  the  duchy  of  Burgundy  was  more  ques- 
tionable. Originally  the  great  lief<  of  tiie  crown  descended  to 
females,  and  tiiis  was  the  case  with  respect  to  the  two  tirst 
mentioned.  But  John  Jiad  granted  Burgundy  to  his  son 
Philip  by  way  of  appanage ;  and  it  was  contended  that  the 
appanages  reverted  to  the  crown  in  default  of  raal(>  heirs. 
In  tin-  form  of  riiiiip's  investiture,  the  duchy  was  granted  to 
him  and  his  lawful  heirs,  without  designation  of  sex.  Tiie 
con-truclioii.  then-fort'.  mu>t  I»e  left  to  tlie  established  course 
of  law.  This,  however,  was  by  no  means  acknowledged  by 
Mary,  Charles's  daughter,  who  maintained  both  that  no  gen- 
er.il  law  restricted  appanages  to  male  heirs,  and  that  Bin- 
gundy  had  always  been  considered  as  a  feminine  fief,  John 
himself  iiaving  possessed  it,  not  by  reversion  as  king  (for 
descemlanls  of  tiie  Hrst  dukes  were  then  Hving),  but  liy  inlui- 
itanre  di-rived  through  females.^  Such  was  this  (pie-iion  of 
snccis-ion  between   J^oiiis  XL  and  ,Mary  of  Burgundy,  upon 

'••n   in   the  femiile  sucopssion  ;  thus  ArtoL*  hiiil  piisH- 
•<at(initi-  eil,  by  II  diiujilitiT  of  I>ouis  Ic   Mali',  into 
-■  -    '.f   owinT!',  the  hou.^M'of  Kiirj^uiiJv.     .As  to  tlll■allllV>'- 
.  iiit  of  iu  valuv,  mentioiicil   orilinancfs,   tin-   lir."t  aiiplim 
,            ill   tlio    Freucli  only  to  tlie   oouiitv  of  I'oitlerK  :   the  .«ec- 
cnjwii.     tfnriiKT.  t.  xTiii.  |>.  3i;i.  Olid  diK-s  not  contjiiii  a  Hvlluhle   tliiit  re- 
'  l(    (•  !i-!riii<M-|  with   trai  niurh  confl-  latex   to   xurco.iHion.      (OpIonnain'eH  lies 
iirli  lilxtorinnit. either  UoiK.  t.  vi.   p.  /Vt.)     Tlie  dcHtriiie   of  e.x- 
•    of    I'liilip   IV.  ami  rliicliiifT  female  lieirH  wuH  iiion- niiiHonaut 
■■it<-l     a    ireiienil   law  to  the   preteiicUil  Salir  Ijiw.  and   the  re- 
■    <•{  appaiiit^'i'ii    to  fe-  cent  j.rlmiple.i  ii»  to  inalii'iiahllily  of  do- 
'•"'<"»  fnii'Liiiieiit-  main  than  to  the  Hiiald^jv  iif  feudal  riile« 
■•  ■■                                               I'll  t'l.,,..  Ili-t.  and  prci-edentK.      M.  liaiilard.  In   hl«  Oh- 
«•«  '                                              lianiier.  Ill»t.  ^ervali<.IlM  but  rilinloire  de  Vidly.  Viila- 
'^  *                                              The  latt4T  po-  ret.  et  lianiier.  Iiim  n  jiuliciuuii  uott*  on 
•if                                           -lit  liutaueeit  of  Ihlit  Nulijeet,  t.  ill.  p.  »H. 


102  CONDUCT  OF  LOUIS.         Chap.  I.  Pakt  II. 

the  merits  of  whose  pretensions  I  will  )iot  pretend  altogether 
to  decide,  but  shall  only  observe  that,  if  Charles  had  con- 
ceived his  daughter  to  be  excluded  from  this  part  of  his  in- 
heritance, he  would  jjrobably,  at  Conflans  or  Peronne,  where 
he  treated  upon  the  vantage-ground,  have  attempted  at  least 
to  obtain  a  renunciation  of  Louis's  claim. 

There  was  one  obvious  mode  of  preventing  all  further  con- 
Conduct  of  test  and  of  aggrandizing  the  French  monarchy  far 
Louis.  more  than  by  the  reunion  of  Burgundy.     This  was 

the  marriage  of  Mary  with  the  Daupliin,  whicli  was  ardently 
wished  in  France.  Wliatever  obstacles  might  occur  to  this 
connection,  it  was  natural  to  expect  on  the  opposite  side  — 
from  Mary's  repugnance  to  an  infiint  husband,  or  from  the 
jealousy  which  her  subjects  were  Hkely  to  entertain  of  being 
incorporated  with  a  country  worse  governed  than  their  own. 
The  arts  of  Louis  would  have  been  well  employed  in  smooth- 
ing these  impediments.^  But  he  chose  to  seize  upon  as  many 
towns  as,  in  those  critical  circumstances,  lay  exposed  to  him, 
and  stripped  the  young  duchess  of  Artois  and  Franche-comte. 
Expectations  of  the  maiTiage  he  sometimes  held  out,  but,  as 
it  seems,  without  sincerity.  Ladeed  he  contrived  irreconcila- 
bly to  alienate  Mary  by  a  shameful  perfidy,  betraying  the 
ministers  whom  she  had  intrusted  upon  a  secret  mission  to  tlie 
people  of  Ghent,  who  put  them  to  the  torture,  and  afterwards 
to  death,  in  the  presence  and  amidst  the  tears  and  supplications 
of  their  mistress.  Thus  the  French  alliance  becoming  odious 
,,.,  in  France,  this  princess  married  Maximilian  of 
Austria,  son  of  the  emperor  Frederic  —  a  connec- 
tion which  Louis  strove  to  prevent,  though  it  was  impossible 
then  to  foresee  that  it  was  ordained  to  retard  the  growth  of 
France  and  to  bias  the  fate  of  Europe  during  three  hun- 
dred years.  This  war  histed  till  after  the  death  of  Mary,  who 
left  one  son,  Pliilip,  and  one  daughter,  Margaret.  By  a  treaty 
of  peace  concluded  at  Arras,  in  1482,  it  was  agreed  that  this 
daughter  should  become  the  dauphin's  wife,  with  Franche- 

1  Robertson,  as  well  as  some  other  mod-  put  a  new  house  of  Burgundy  at   the 

erus,  have  maintained,  on  the  authority  head  of  those  princes  whose   confedera- 

of   Comines,  that   Louis   XI.   ought    in  cies  had  so  often  endangered  the  crown, 

policy  to  liave  married  the  young  prin-  Oomines  is  one  of  the  most  judicious  oe 

cess   to  the  count  of  Angoulcme,  father  historians  ;    but    his    sincerity   m.ay   b- 

of  Francis   I.,  a    connection  which   she  rather   doubtful  in  the    opinion   above 

would  not  have  disUked.     But  certainly  mentioned  ;  for  he  wrote  in  the  reign  of 

nothing  could  have  been  more  adverse  to  Charles  Vlll.,  when  the  count  of   An- 

the  interests  of  the  French   monarcliy  gouleme  was  engaged  in  the  same  faction 

than  such  a  marriage,  which  would  have  as  himself. 


Fii.\N-cE.  nrs  siCKxr.s^  and  death.  103 

comte  antl  Artoi^,  which  Louis  held  ah-eady,  for  Iht  dowry, 
to  l)t'  restored  in  e;vse  the  marriaire  shoidd  not  take  eftVot. 
Tlie  hoinaire  of  Flanders  was  reserved  to  the  crown. 

Meanwhile  Louis  was  lin-jferinjz;  in  disease  and  torments  of 
mind,  tlie  retribution  of  fraud  and  tyranny.  Two  ^.  , 
years  het'ore  his  death  he  was  struck  with  an  apo-  hh.i  aoaHi  of 
l»lexy,  fmm  which  he  never  wholly  recovered.  As  !'"">'' -'^i- 
he  felt  his  disorder  increasinjr,  he  shut  himself  up  in  a  palace 
near  Tours,  to  hide  from  the  world  the  knowlednfe  of  his  de- 
cline.^ His  solitude  was  like  that  of  Tiberius  at  Capreas  full 
of  terror  and  suspicion,  and  deep  consciousness  of  universal 
hatred.  All  ranks,  he  well  knew,  had  their  several  injuries 
to  remember:  the  clergy,  whose  lil)erties  he  had  sacrificed  to 
the  see  of  Rome,  by  revoking  the  Pragmatic  Sanction  of 
Charles  VII. ;  the  princes,  whose  blood  he  had  poured  upon 
the  scatfoid  ;  the  jiarliainenf,  whose  course  of  justice  he  had 
turned  aside  ;  the  commons,  who  groaned  under  his  extortion, 
and  were  plundered  by  his  soldiery.'^  The  palace,  fenced 
witli  ])ortcullises  and  sjukes  of  iron,  was  guarded  by  archers 
and  cross-bow  men.  who  shot  at  any  that  approached  bv  night. 
Few  entered  this  den ;  but  to  them  he  showed  himself  in 
magnificent  apparel,  contrary  to  his  former  custom,  hoping 
thus  to  disguise  the  change  of  his  meagre  bodv.  lie  dis- 
trusted liis  liiends  anil  kindred,  his  daughter  and  his  son,  the 
last  of  whom  he  had  not  suffered  even  to  read  or  write,  lest 
he  should  too  sootj  become  his  rival.  No  man  ever  so  much 
feare«l  death,  to  avert  wliich  he  stooped  to  every  meanness 
and  sought  every  remedy.  His  jiliysician  had  sworn  that  if 
he  wr-re  ilismissed  the  king  wouM  not  survive  a  week  ;  and 
Louis.  eiifer'I)led  l>y  sickness  and  terror,  l)ore  the  rudest  usage 
from  thi>  man,  and  endeavore<l  to  secure  his  services  l)y  vast 
rewanls.  Always  credulous  in  nlics,  though  seldom  re- 
stniined  by  superstition  from  any  crime,^  he  eagerly  bought 

>  For   UiuWn   Illnw*    ami    i|<iith   tee  than  l.W>n.fK¥>fnino«  n  v<'nr  in  taxi-s;  hnt 

romlnr*.  I.  tI.  c.  7-12,  anil  (iarnior,  t.  IxiiiU  XL.nt  tin- tiiiior)r  liin  di'iith.  nisiMl 

x\t.  p    ll'J.   ftr      I'lMFij..   hi*   iBjit  rwl-  4,7<Mi.(»0().  fxriimivc  of  souie  iniliUrv  ini- 

•Irnrf.  *N<iit  ail  Kniflioli  mill- from  Tnum,  poxitinnH;  ft  Hiircnii'iit  o'eHtnit    cniiipiiti- 

'•.  nii.l  run  Hon   ilo  voir  ft   sniviiir  lii    piiiivn-lc   ilii 

liiiihllfilf.  [M-iiplf .     In   tlii.H  ctiiiplfr  lif  ilfcliirfji  liin 

il  arffi'w;  opinion    tliiit    no    kiiiif   fiin    justly    ifvy 

liiiTf  Immmi  iiioiify  on  111"  HUtiJfft^  wKlmiit  tlicir  "on- 

'  of  aKi-n  or  lu-iit,  iiml  rf|i<-lH  nil  coniiiion  nr,;iunf iitJ 

kl  (iif  r>-t"iuli»ii.  to  tlif  rontrnry. 

<  )*~.  a  n^iarfciihle  rhaptrrin  Philipilf        '  An  <■  xrfptinn    to   tlil»   wan  whfti    lii> 

''  1    l»    <•    IC,  wlifFfln  lif  IflU  nit  dwon-  liv  tlif  rromi  of  St.  I^>.  iiftfr  wlilrli 

'••  VII.  bad  ii«riT  raliMvl  uiore  lif  fi-nrtvl  to  violiiff  lila  fwitli.     Tlif  i-on- 


104  CHAELES  Till.  Chap.  I.  Part  II 

up  treasures  of  this  sort,  and  even  procured  a  Calabrian  her- 
mit, of  noted  sanctity,  to  journey  as  far  as  Tours  in  order  to 
restore  his  heahh.  Phihp  de  Comines,  who  attended  him 
dui'ing  his  infirmity,  draws  a  parallel  between  the  torments  he 
then  endured  and  those  he  had  formerly  inflicted  on  others. 
Indeed  the  whole  of  his  life  was  vexation  of  spirit.  "  I  have 
known  him,"  says  Comines,  "and  been  his  servant  in  the 
flower  of  his  age,  and  in  the  time  of  his  greatest  prosperity ; 
but  never  did  I  see  him  without  uneasiness  and  care.  Of  all 
amusements  he  loved  only  the  chase,  and  hawking  in  its 
season.  And  in  this  he  had  almost  as  much  uneasiness  as 
pleasure :  for  he  rode  hard  and  got  up  early,  and  sometimes 
went  a  great  way,  and  regarded  no  weather ;  so  that  he  used 
to  return  very  weary,  and  almost  ever  in  wrath  with  some 
one.  I  think  that  from  his  childhood  he  never  had  any 
respite  of  labor  and  trouble  to  his  death.  And  I  am  certain 
that,  if  all  the  happy  days  of  his  life,  in  which  he  had  more 
enjoyment  than  uneasiness,  were  numbered,  they  would  be 
found  very  few ;  and  at  least  that  they  would  be  twenty  of 
sorrow  for  every  one  of  pleasure."  ^ 

Charles  VIII.  was  about  thirteen  years  old  when  he  suc- 
Charies  VIII.  ceeded  his  father  Louis.  Though  the  law  of 
A.D.  1483.  France  fixed  the  majority  of  her  kings  at  that 
age,  yet  it  seems  not  to  have  been  strictly  regarded  on 
this  occasion,  and  at  least  Charles  was  a  minor  by  nature, 
if  not  by  law.  A  contest  arose,  therefore,  for  the  regency, 
which  Louis  had  intrusted  to  his  daughter  Anne,  wife  of  the 
lord  de  Beaujeu,  one  of  the  Bourbon  family.  The  duke  of 
Orleans,  afterwards  Louis  XII.,  claimed  it  as  presumptive 
heir  of  the  ci'own,  and  Avas  seconded  by  most  of  the  princes. 
Anne,  however,  maintained  her  ground,  and  ruled  France  for 
several  years  in  her  brother's  name  with  singular  spirit  and 
address,  in  spite  of  the  rebellions  which  the  Orleans  party 
raised  up  against  her.  These  were  supported  by  the  duke 
of  Britany,  the  last  of  the  great  vassals  of  the  crown,  whose 
daughter,  as  he  had  no  male  issue,  was  the  object  of  as  many 
suitors  as  Mary  of  Burgundy. 

stable  of  St.  Pol,  whom  Louis  invited  he  had   a  similar  respect  for  a  le<aden 
with  many  ass urances  to  court.bethought  imiige  of  the  Virgin,  which  he  wore  in  his 
himself  of  requiring  this  oatli  before  lie  hat;  as  alluded  to  by  Pope: 
trusted  his  promises,  which  the  kiug  re-  "A  perjured   prince  a  leaden  saint  re- 
fused; and  St.  Pol  prudently  stayed  away.  vere."' 
Gam.  t.  xviii.  p.  72.     Some  rejjort  that  i  Comines,  1.  vi.  c  13. 


FR-V.NCE.  AFFAIRS   OF   BRITAXY.  105 

The  duchy  of  Britjuiy  was  jieculiarly  cii'cumstance  1.  The 
iiiliaUitants,  whether  sprung  troiii  the  ancient  re-  Air^iirs  of 
publicans  ut'  Arniorit-a.  or,  as  some  have  tliought,  ^^''t^'ny- 
t'rom  ail  emigration  of  Britons  during  the  Saxon  invasion,  had 
not  oriLrinallv  belonged  to  the  bodv  of  the  Frencli  monarchv. 
They  were  governed  by  their  own  princes  and  hiws,  though 
triliutary,  periiaps,  ;us  the  weaker  to  the  stronger,  to  tlie  Me- 
rovingian kings.^  In  tiie  ninth  century  the  dukes  of  Britany 
did  hduiage  to  Charles  the  Bald,  the  right  of  which  was 
transferred  afterwards  to  the  dukes  of  Normandy.  Tliis 
foniiality,  at  that  time  no  token  of  real  subjection,  led  to  con- 
secpiences  beyond  tlie  views  of  either  party.  For  when  the 
feudal  chains  that  had  hung  so  loosely  upon  the  shoulders  of 
the  givat  vassals  began  to  be  straigiitened  by  the  dexterity 
of  the  court,  Britany  found  itself  drawn  among  the  rest  to  the 
same  centre.  The  old  privileges  of  independence  were 
treated  as  usurpation  ;  the  dukes  were  menaced  with  confisca- 
tion of  their  fief,  their  right  of  coining  money  disputed,  their 
jurisdiction  impaired  by  a])peals  to  the  parliament  of  Paris. 
However,  they  stoijd  boldly  upon  their  right,  and  always 
refused  to  jtay  lieffe-hotnage,  which  implied  an  obligation  of 
service  to  the  lord,  in  contradistinction  to  simple  homage, 
which' was  a  mere  symbol  of  fciKlal  dependence.'^ 

Alxtut  tile  time  that  Edward  III.  made  pretension  to  the 
crown  of  France,  a  controversy  somewhat  reseml)ling  it  arose 
in  the  duchy  of  Britany,  between  the  families  of  Blois  and 
Montti)rt.  This  led  to  a  long  and  obstinate  war,  connected 
all  along,  as  a  sort  of  underplot,  with  the  great  drama  of 
France  and  EuLdaiid.  At  last  Montfbi-t,  Edward's  ally,  by 
the  defeat  and  death  (jf  his  antagonist,  obtained  the  duchy,  of 
which  Charles  V.  .soon  after  gave  him  the  investiture.  This 
prince  and  his  family  were  generally  inclined  to  English  con- 

>  GitTfory    or    Touni    »«y«    that    ttie  scriptum    est.      Kpist.   c.   8.     See.   too, 

P~' "•  ■  ■'•J<-'-t  to  Krnnn.  from  the  Cupitiilaria  Cnr.  Cilvi.  A.n.  877,  tit.  23. 

■'                                ""'l    •'•"'    thi'ir  chicfn  At   tlii.s    time   a   ccitjiiii    Noiiioikk!    ha.l 

'"                            '-.  not  kiii(f»,  I.  It.  c.  4.  axHuiiieJ  tliu  cniwii  of  Itritjiiiv.  ami  smiio 

ClinriL'UiiiK'"-  "utxliu-l   i\w  wliol.-  of  Bri-  othi-rH   In    Huccex-ion   Lore    the    nann-  of 

Uny.     Vfl  It  «-<-UM  rU-nr  from  NIitl'IIuh,  kltiR.     Tlii-v  nwni,  lit.w.ver,  to  have  Ihhmi 

antli-.r  of  n  m.-triml    Life  of   l^.ulu   tin-  f.'Uilallv  ^'u^j.•<•t  to  Kniiicc.     ('liarl.-«  tlio 

Ik-UiiiJiir.   Uiat   ttn-r   were   a({iilii   almost  SinipU>'<'iMti-il   to   the   Nonnans  whatever 

''   '           '      '        ''           "i"  e»eii  a  inarch  ri);hr  he  posM-KiU'<|  over  llritany  ;  an. I  tlie 

'■                                           '''•f.    wlilrh    M'pa-  ilnkeM  of  that  ronntry  (the  name  of  kln»c 

r                                               In    the   enmiinK  wim  now  ilroppe.l)  alwavH  ili'l  liomaiti' to 

''                                        l-iM.  Illiicmnr  lelJM  Normamlv.    See  l>aru.  jli-t.  ile  lln-tii»,'ne. 

"                                 .         '   I'ok'anlH,  et  CiUIh  'i  ViUaret,   t.   xll.   p.  H'.i  j   t.   xv.  p.  I'JU. 
*  Itrulwitu,   MiiKvi   Urituulbtu  circum- 


106  MARRIAGE  OF  CHARLES  VIII.    Chap.  I.  Part  II. 

nections ;  but  the  Bretons  would  seldom  permit  them  to  be 
effectual.  Two  cardinal  feelings  guided  the  conduct  of  this 
brave  and  foithful  people ;  the  one,  an  attachment  to  the 
French  nation  and  monarchy  in  opposition  to  foreign  enemies  ; 
the  other,  a  zeal  for  their  own  privileges,  and  the  family  of 
Montfort,  in  opposition  to  the  encroachments  of  the  crown. 
In  Francis  II.,  the  present  duke,  the  male  line  of  that  family 
was  about  to  be  extinguished.  His  daughter  Anne  was 
naturally  the  object  of  many  suitors,  among  whom  were  par- 
ticularly distinguished  the  duke  of  Orleans,  who  seems  to 
have  been  prefei-red  by  herself;  the  lord  of  Albret,  a  member 
of  the  Gascon  family  of  Foix,  favored  by  the  Breton  nobility, 
as  most  likely  to  presei've  the  peace  and  liberties  of  their 
country,  but  whose  age  rendered  him  not  very  acceptable  to 
a  youthful  princess ;  and  Maximilian,  king  of  the  Romans. 
Britany  was  rent  by  factions  and  overrun  by  the  armies  of  the 
regent  of  France,  who  did  not  lose  this  opportunity  of  inter- 
fering with  its  domestic  ti'oubles,  and  of  persecuting  her  private 
enemy,  the  duke  of  Orleans.  Anne  of  Britany,  upon  her 
father's  death,  finding  no  other  means  of  escaping 
the  addresses  of  Albret,  was  married  by  proxy  to 
Maximilian.  This,  however,  aggravated  the  evils  of  the 
country,  since  France  was  resolved  at  all  events  to  break  off  so 
dangerous  a  connection.  And  as  Maximilian  himself  was 
unable,  or  took  not  sufficient  pains,  to  relieve  his  betrothed 
Marria  e  of  ^^'^^^  from  her  embarrassments,  she  was  ultimately 
Charles  VIII.  compelled  to  accept  the  hand  of  Charles  VIII.-^ 
of  Britony.''*'  H^  had  loug  been  engaged  by  the  treaty  of  Ai-j-as 
to  marry  the  daughter  of  Maximilian,  and  that 
princess  was  educated  at  the  French  court.  But  this  engage- 
ment had  not  prevented  several  years  of  hostilities,  and  con- 
tinual intrigues  with  the  towns  of  Flanders  against  Maxi- 
milian. The  double  injury  which  the  latter  sustained  in  the 
mai-riage  of  Charles  with  the  heiress  of  Britany  seemed 
likely  to  excite  a  protracted  contest ;  but  the  king  of  France, 
who  had  other  objects  in  view,  and  perhaps  was  conscious 
that  he  had  not  acted  a  fair  j^iirt,  soon  came  to  an  accommo- 
dation, by   which    he    restored   Artois   and    Franclie-comte. 

1  This  is  one  of  the  coolest  violations  without   papal   dispensation.     This   was 

of   ecclesiastical    law    in    comparatively  obtained;  but  it  bears  date  eight  days 

modern  times.    Both  contracts,  especially  after  the  ceremony  between  Charles  and 

that  of  Anne,  were  obligatory,  so  far  at  Anne.     (Sismondi,  XV.  106.) 
least  that  they  could  not  be  dissolved 


Fkaxce. 


THE  FRENCH  MONARCHY. 


lu; 


Both  these  provinces  had  revolted   to  3Iaxiinilian  ;  so  that 
Charles  must  have  continued  the  war  at  some  disailvantage.^ 
France  was  now  consolidated  into  a  great  kingdom  :  the 
feuilal  system  was  at  an  end.    The  vigor  of  Phily)  ^^  ^^^^ 
Augustus,  tlie  paternal  wisdom  of  St.   Louis,  the 
policy  of  Plnlip  the  Fair,  had  laid  the  ibuiulations  of  a  power- 
ful monarchy,  which  neither  the  arms  of  England,  nor  sedi- 
tions of  Paris,  nor  rehelUons  of  the  pi-inces,  were  ahle  to 
shake.     Besides  the  original  fiefs  of  the  French  crown,  it  had 
acquired  two  countries  beyond   the    Rhone,  which   j>roperly 
depended  only  upon  the  empire,  Dauphine,  under  Philip  of 
Valois,  by  tlic  betjuest  of  Ilundun-t,  the  last  of  its  ^  ^  ^^gj 
princes  ;  and  Provence,  under  Louis  XL,  by  that 
of  Charles  of  Anjou."     Thus  having  conquered  herself,  if 
I    may   use   the    phrase,   and    no    longer   apprehensive    of 
any  foreign  enemy.  France  was  prepared,  under  a   monarch 
flushed  with  sanguine  ambition,  to  carry  her  arms'into  other 


t  Slomor.di.  xv.  135. 

'  I  he  country  uow  called  Dauphin6 
fonui*d  i«irt  of  till-  kiiiK'loin  of  Aries  or 
Provoiire.  U-.iui-.itlie'l  by  Ro.lolph  III.  to 
tti  I'oiini'l  II.  But  the  dominion 

o;  ■•  over  these  new  acquisitions 

I-  \'>rv  th:in  niMniiial,  a.  few  of 

11  ility  cnnverte.l  their  resi)ec- 

tiv  irili'pendent  |iriMci|i»litie.s. 

0  -  the  loni  or  Jiiu|>hiti  of 

\.  .iiiily  l>ec.iuie  ultini.-itt^Iy 

tna.-tir.-  uf  tlje  whole  province.  Hum- 
b«rrt.  the  Inut  of  the!^«,  made  John,  ."on 
ofl'hilip  of  Va!oi«.  his  heir,  on  condition 
that  llauphim-  sliould  )»■  lonst'iutly  pre- 

jeri'- 1    .-    >   ...ir.ti-   1 .-JsiDn,  not  in- 

fs  11  of  France. 

Ti.  I  liy  the  eui- 

perur  tlmreK  IV..  wIi-.ih?  f  iipn-niacy  over 
UiP  provine*'  whu  thus  rf<-iii.'niw(l  hy  the 
ki:  '  (nine  to 

1-  iidil.tiv. 

a  :•  .1  ,.   .1  ■..   li.i.ip.M.ii.-  to  the 

rr  H.'iT.   t>efon'  which   time  it 

»  I    l.s    till-  daupliin    for    the 

ti  Miven-iifnty. 

1  liii'-.  wim  clunked 

from   a   1.  u.Lki     :  to   a    ooTer- 

piKwtr.   in   thr   w.  I  diiwolutlon 

'  ''  lUt  the  early 

ir> .     Hy  the 

. ..I  the(ln4Hiiio 

of  »orerpt((ii  couutii,  with  Kaymoud  lie- 


renger,  count  of  Barcelona,  in  1112,  it 
pa-s.sed  into  that  Jistingui.slie'l  family. 
In  1107  it  wa-s  occupied  or  usurped  by 
Alfonso  II.,  kinj^  of  Aragon,  .a  relation, 
but  not  heir,  of  the  hou.se  of  Bereuger. 
Alfonso  beijueathcd  Provence  to  his 
second  son,  of  the  .sjime  name,  from  whom 
it  descended  to  I{aymond  Berenjjer  IV. 
This  count  dying  without  male  issue  in 
124.5,  his  youngest  daughter  Beatrice 
took  po8ses.sion  hy  virtue  of  her  father's 
testament.  Hut  this  succession  being  dis- 
puted by  other  claimants,  and  esiiecially 
by  Louis  IX.,  who  had  married  her  eldest 
sister,  she  compromised  differences  by 
marrying  Charles  of  .-Vnjou,  the  king's 
brother.  The  family  of  .Vnjou  reigned  iu 
Provence,  as  well  as  in  Naples,  .till  the 
death  of  .Joan  in  1.3.^2,  who,  having  no 
children,  adopted  Louis  duke  of  .Vnjou, 
brother  of  Charles  V.,  as  her  successor. 
This  second  .\ngevine  line  ended  in  14S1 
by  the  death  of  Charles  IU.;  though 
Uegnier,  duke  of  Lorraine,  who  was  de- 
scended througli  a  female,  had  a  claim 
which  it  does  not  seem  ea.sy  to  repel  by 
argument..  It  was  very  easy,  however, 
for  liOuis  XI.,  to  whom  Charles  III.  had 
beijueatlied  his  rights,  to  n-pel  it  by 
force,  and  accordingly  he  took  possession 
of  Provence,  which  was  )ii-rnianently 
unit4-d  to  the  Crown  by  letters  patent  of 
Charles  VIU.  in  1480.* 


Art  d«  T«rifl«r  1m  Dttw,  t.  U.  p.  44C.  —  Gurtiler,  t.  xix.  p.  57,  474. 


108       AUTHORITIES  FOR  FRENCH  HISTORY.  Chap.  I.  Paet  II. 

countries,  and  to  contest  the  prize  of  glory  and  power  upon 
the  ample  theatre  of  Europe.-^ 


1  The  principal  autliority,  exclusive  of 
original  writers,  ou  which  I  have  relied 
for  this  chapter,  is  the  History  of  France 
by  Velly,  Villaret.  and  Garnier ;  a  work 
which,  notwithstanding  several  defects, 
has  absolutely  superseded  those  of  Meze- 
ray  and  Daniel.  The  part  of  the  Abbe 
A'elly  comes  down  to  the  middle  of  the 
eighth  volume  (12mo.  edition),  and  of  the 
reign  of  Philip  de  Valois.  His  contiuu- 
ator,  Villaret,  was  interrupted  bj'  death 
in  the  seventeenth  volume,  and  in  the 
reign  of  Louis  XI.  In  my  references  to 
this  history,  which  for  common  facts  I 
have  not  thought  it  necessary  to  make,  I 
have  merely  named  the  author  of  the 
particular  volume  which  I  quote.  This 
has  made  the  above  explanation  con- 
venient, as  the  reader  might  imagine 
that  I  referred  to  three  distinct  works. 
Of  these  three  historians,  Garnier,  the 
last,  is  the  most  judicious,  and,  I  believe, 
the  most  accurate.  His  prolixitj',  though 
a  material  defect,  and  one  which  has  oc- 
casioned the  work  itself  to  become  an 
immeasurable  undertaking,  which  could 
never  be  completed  on  the  same  scale,  is 
chiefly  occasioned  by  too  gi-eat  a  regard 
to  details,  and  is  more  tolerable  than  a 
similar  fiult  in  Villaret,  proceeding  from 
a  love  of  idle  declamation  and  sentiment. 
Villaret,  however,  is  not  without  merits. 
He  embraces,  perhaps  more  fully  than 
his  predecessor  Velly,  those  collateral 
branches  of  history  which  an  enlightened 
reader  requires  almost  in  preference  to 
civil  transactions,  the  laws,  manners,  lit- 


erature, and  in  general  the  whole  domes- 
tic records  of  a  nation.  These  subjects 
are  not  always  well  treated;  but  the 
book  itself,  to  which  there  is  a  remark- 
ably full  index,  forms,  upon  the  whole,  a 
great  repository  of  useful  knowledge. 
A'illaret  had  the  advantage  of  official 
access  to  the  French  arcliives,  by  which 
he  has  no  doubt  enriched  his  liistory  ; 
but  his  references  are  indistinct,  and  his 
composition  breathes  an  air  of  rapidity 
and  want  of  exactness.  Velly's  charac- 
teristics are  not  very  dissimilar.  The 
style  of  both  is  exceedingly  bad,  as  has 
been  severely  noticed,  along  with  their 
other  defects,  by  Gaillard,  in  Observa- 
tions sur  I'Histoire  de  Vellv,  Villaret,  et 
Garnier.     (4  vols.  12mo.  Paris,  1806.) 

[This  history  is  now  but  slightly  es- 
teemed in  France,  especially  tlie  volumes 
written  by  the  Abbe  Velly.  The  writers 
were  too  much  imbued  with  the  spirit  of 
the  old  monarchy  (though  no  adulators 
of  kings,  and  rather  liberal  according  to 
the  standard  of  their  own  age)  for  those 
who  have  taken  the  sovereignty  of  the 
people  for  their  creed  Nor  are  they 
critical  and  exact  enough  for  the  present 
state  of  historical  knowledge.  Sismondi 
and  Michelet,  especially  the  former,  are 
doubtless  superior;  but  the  reader  will 
not  find  in  the  latter  as  regular  a  narra- 
tion of  facts  as  in  Velly  and  A'^illaret. 
Sismondi  has  as  many  prejudices  ou 
one  side  as  they  have  on  the  opposite. 
[1848]  ]. 


Notes  to  Cuai-.  I.  ANCIENT  GAUL.  109 


NOTES  TO   CHAPTER  I. 


NoTi.  I.     Pane  16. 

The  evidence  of  Zosiimis,  which  is  the  basis  of  this  thoorv 
of  l)ubi>s.  cannot  l)e  called  very  slight.  Early  in  the  fifth 
centnrv.  according  to  him.  about  the  time  when  Constantine 
usurped  the  throne  of  Britain  and  Gaul,  or.  as  the  sense 
shows,  ;i  little  later,  in  coiise(|U('nce  of  the  incursions  of  the 
barl)arians  from  beyond  the  Khine,  the  natives  of  Britain, 
taking  up  arms  for  themselves,  rescued  their  cities  from  these 
barbarians  ;  and  the  whole  Armorican  territory,  and  other 
provinces  ot  Graul,  6  'Apijxtpixog  uzac,  kui  irepai  Ta?.aTU)V  i-apxi-ai, 
in  imitation  of  the  Britons.  lil)erated  themselves  in  the  same 
manner,  expelling  the  Roman  rulers,  and  establishing  an 
internal  government  :  inSa'/JMvaai  fu.v  tovc  'P^ixaiovg  upvoiTaf, 
oiKtiov  6i  kqt'  l^ovaiav  TTo'/urevfia  Kadiaruaai.  Lib.  vi.  0.  0.  Guizot 
gives  so  much  authority  to  this  as  to  say  of  the  Armoricans, 
"  Il>  se  maintiin-<-iit  toujoin-s  librt's,  entre  les  barltarcs  et  les 
li<jmains."  IiUnxluclion  a  la  Collection  des  Meinoires,  vol.  i. 
p.  3.'3G.  Si>mondi  pays  little  regard  to  it.  The  proofs 
alh'ged  by  Daru  for  the  existence  of  a  king  of  Britany 
nanii-d  Conan,  early  in  the  fifth  century,  would  throw  nuich 
doulil  on  the  Armorican  republic  ;  but  they  seem  to  mo 
ratlier  weak.  Britany.  it  may  be  observe<l  liy  tlie  way,  was 
never  subjf<'t  to  tin-  Merovingian  kings,  except  sometimes  in 
name.  l)ul>o-  does  not  think  it  prolialile  tii;il  there  was  any 
central  authority  in  wiiat  he  Cidls  the  Armorican  confederacy, 
but  conceives  the  cities  to  have  acted  as  independent  states 
din-ing  tin;  greater  part  of  the  fifth  century.  (Hist,  de 
rKtabli>s<'inent,  «Stc.,  vol.  i.  p.  3.'J8.)  He  give<,  however,  an 
enormous  ext«'nt  to  AnnoricjL,  .suj)posing  it  to  have  comprised 
A'piitaine.  But,  thougli  the  contrary  ha-  Ix-en  proved,  it  is 
to  be  olj-<-'rved  iliul  Zo-iuius  mentions  oilier  prctvinces  ot 
Gaul,  Irtfxu  VaJUiTuv  inapxiat,  im  Well  as  Armorica.     I'rocopius, 


110  THE  FRANKS.  Notes  to 

by  the  word  'Ap;36pvxot,  seems  to  indicate  all  the  inhabitants 
at  least  of  Northern  Gaul ;  but  the  passage  is  so  ambiguous, 
and  his  acquaintance  with  that  history  so  questionable,  that 
little  can  be  inferred  from  it  with  any  confidence.  On  the 
whole,  the  history  of  Northern  Gaul  in  the  fifth  century 
is   extremely  obscure,  and   the   trustworthy   evidence   very 

scantv. 

Sismondi  (Hist,  des  Franfais,  vol.  i.  p.  134)  has  a  good 
passage,  which  it  will  be  desirable  to  keep  in  mind  when  we 
launch  into  mediaeval  antiquities :  — "  Ce  peu  des  mots  a 
donne  matiere  a  d'araples  commentaires,  et  au  developpement 
de  beaucoup  de  conjectures  ingenieuses.  L'abbe  Dubos,  en 
exphquant  le  silence  des  historiens,  a  fonde  sur  des  sousenten- 
dus  une  histoire  assez  complete  de  la  republique  Armorique. 
Nous  serous  souvent  appeles  a  nous  tenir  en  garde  contre 
le  zele  des  ecrivains  qui  ne  satisfait  point  I'aridite  de  nos 
chroniques,  et  qui  y  suppleent  par  des  divinations.  Plus 
d'une  tbis  le  lecteur  pourra  etre  surpi'is  en  voyant  a  combien 
peu  se  reduit  ce  que  nous  savons  reellement  sur  un  evene- 
ment  assez  celebre  pour  avoir  motive  de  gros  Hvres." 

Note  II.     Page  16. 

The  Franks  are  not  among  the  German  tribes  mentioned 
by  Tacitus,  nor  do  they  appear  in  history  before  the  year  240. 
Guizot  accedes  to  the  opinion  that  they  were  a  confederation 
of  the  tribes  situated  between 'the  Rhine,  the  Weser,  and  the 
Main ;  as  the  Alemanni  were  a  similar  league  to  the  south 
of  the  last  river.-^  Their  origin  may  be  derived  from  the 
necessity  of  defending  their  independence  against  Rome ;  but 
they  had  become  the  aggressors  in  the  period  when  we  read 
of  them  in  Roman  history ;  and,  like  other  barbarians  in  that 
age,  were  often  the  purchased  allies  of  the  declining  empire. 
Their  history  is  briefiy  sketched  by  Guizot  (Essais  sur 
riiistoire  de  France,  p.  53),  and  more  copiously  by  other 
antiquarians,  among  whom  M.  Lehuerou,  the  latest  and  not 
the  least  original  or  ingenious,  conceives  them  to  have  been  a 
race  of  exiles  or  outlaws  i'rom  other  German  tribes,  taking 
the  name  Franc  from  frech,  fierce  or  bold/  and  settling  at 

1  Alemanni  is  generally  supposed  to  moires  de  I'Academie  de  Bruxelles,  vol. 

mean  "all  men.'"    Meyer,  however,  takes  iii.  p.  439. 

it  for  another  form  of  Arimanni,   from  "  This  etymology  had   been   given  by 

Heermanner,  soldiers.  —  Nouveaux  Me-  Thierry,  or  was  of  older  origin. 


Ch.\p.  I.  THE  FR.\NKS.  1 1  1 

first,  bv  necessity,  near  tlie  mouth  of  the  Elbe,  whence  they 
moved  onwards  to  seek  better  habitations  at  the  expense 
of  less  intrepid,  though  more  civihzed  nations.  "  Et  ainsi 
nacjuit  hi  premiere  nation  de  I'Europe  moderne."  ^  Institutions 
MeroNnngiennes,  voL  i.  p.  i*l. 

An  earher  writer  considers  the  Franks  as  a  branch  of  the 
sreat  stock  of  the  Suevi.  mentioned  by  Tacitus,  wlio,  lie  tells 
us,  •*  majorem  Germaniaj  partem  obtinent,  propriis  adluic 
nationibus  nominibusciue  discreti,  quancpiam  in  comnumi 
Suevi  dicuntur.  Insiirne  gentls  oblicpiare  crinem,  nodoque 
substrin'Tfre."  De  ]NIoriI»us  German,  c.  38.  Ammianus 
meutious  the  Salian  Franks  by  name :  "  Francos  eos  quos 
consuetudo  Salios  appellavit."  See  a  memoir  in  the  Trans- 
actions of  the  Academy  of  Brussels,  1824,  by  M.  Devez, 
"  sur  retablissement  des  Francs  dans  la  Belgique." 

In  the  great  battle  of  Clullons,  the  Franks  fought  on  the 
Roman  side  agjiinst  Attila ;  and  we  find  them  mentioned 
several  times  in  the  history  of  Northern  Gaul  from  that  time. 
Lehuerou  (In>titutions  Merovingiennes,  c.  11)  endeavors  to 
prove,  as  Dubos  had  done,  that  they  were  settled  in  Gaul, 
iiir  beyond  Tournay  and  Cambi-:iy,  under  Mcroveus  and 
Childeric,  though  as  subjects  of  the  empire;  and  Ludcn 
conjectures  that  the  whole  country  between  the  Moselle  and 
the  Somme  had  fallen  into  their  hands  even  as  early  as  the 
reign  of  Honorius.  (Geschichte  des  Deutschen  Volkes,  vol.  ii. 
p.  ;j81.)  This  is  one  of  the  obscure  and  debated  points  in 
early  French  history.  But  the  seat  of  the  monarchy  appears 
clearly  to  have  been  estabUshed  at  Cambray  before  the  middle 
of  the  fifth  century. 

Note  III.     Page  16. 

This  theory,  which  is  partly  countenanced  by  Gibbon,  has 
lately  been  revived,  in  ahnost  its  fullest  extent,  by  a  learned 
ami  spiriti'fl  investigator  of  early  history.  Sir  Fi'ancis  I'al- 
grave,  in  hi-  lii.-e  an<l  Progress  of  the  English  Couinionwealth. 
i.  300  ;  and  it  seems  much  in  favor  with  M.  Kaynonanl,  in 
his  Ili^tuire  du  Dmit  Munici|tal  en  Franc*-.  M.  Lehuerou, 
in  a  hite  work  (llistoire  des  Institutions  Meroviiigiennes  et 
Carolingiennes,  2  vols.,  1843),  has  in  a  great  measure  adopted 

1  A"  M.  Lehuerou  belooRH  to  what  U    quariod.  he  KhoulJ  not  hnvi-  brout;bt  the 
calieU  the  Roman  acbool  of  Freocb  autl-     nation  from  beyood  lUe  Rhine. 


112  THE  FRANKS.  Notes  to 


it :  —  "  Nous  croyons  devoir  declarer  que,  dans  notre  opinion, 
le  livre  de  Dubos,  malgr^  les  erreurs  trop  reelles  qui  le 
deparent,  et  I'esprit  de  systeme  qui  en  a  considerablement 
exagere  les  consequences,  est,  de  tous  ceux  qui  ont  aboi-de 
le  meme  probleme  au  xviii™*  siecle,  celui  ou  la  question  des 
origines  Merovingiennes  se  trouve  le  plus  jwes  de  la  veritable 
solution.  Get  aveu  nous  dispense  de  detailler  plus  longue- 
meut  les  obligations  que  nous  lui  avons.  Elles  se  reveleront 
d'ailleurs  sufHsamment  d'elles-memes."  (Introduction,  p.  xi.) 
M.  Lehuerou  does  not,  however,  follow  his  celebrated  guide 
so  far  as  to  overlook  the  necessary  connection  between 
barbarian  force  and  its  aggressive  character.  The  final 
establishment  of  the  Franks  in  Gaul,  according  to  him,  rested 
partly  on  the  concession  and  consent  of  the  emperors,  who 
had  invited  them  to  their  service,  and  rewarded  them,  as  he 
conceives,  with  lands,  while  the  progenitors  of  Clovis  bore  the 
royal  name,  partly  on  their  own  encroaclunents,  and  especially 
on  the  victory  of  that  prince  over  Syagrius  in  486.  (Vol.  i. 
p.  228.) 

It  may  be  alleged  against  Dubos  that  Clovis  advanced  into 
the  heart  of  Gaul  as  an  invader ;  that  he  defeated  in  battle  the 
lieutenant  of  the  emperor,  if  Syagrius  were  such ;  or,  if  we 
chose  to  consider  him  as  independent,  which  probably  in 
tei'ms  he  was  not,  that  the  emperors  of  Constantinople  could 
merely  have  relinquished  their  authority,  because  they  had 
not  the  strength  to  enforce  it.  Gaul,  like  Britain,  in  that  age, 
had  become  almost  a  sort  of  derelict  possession,  to  be  seized 
by  the  occupant ;  but  the  title  of  occupancy  is  not  that  of 
succession.  It  may  be  true  that  the  Roman  subjects  of  Clovis 
paid  him  a  ready  allegiance ;  yet  still  they  had  no  alternative 
but  to  obey. 

Twenty-five  years  elapsed,  during  which  the  kingdom  of 
the  Salian  Franks  was  prodigiously  aggrandized  by  the  sub- 
mission of  all  Northern  Gaul,  by  the  reduction  of  the  Ale- 
manni  on  tlie  right  bank  of  the  Rhine,  and  by  the  overthrow 
of  the  Visigoths  at  Vougle,  which  brought  almost  the  whole 
of  the  south  into  subjection  to  Clovis.  It  is  not  disputed  by 
any  one  that  he  reigned  and  conquered  in  his  own  right.  No 
one  has  alleged  that  he  founded  his  great  dominion  on  any 
other  title  than  that  of  the  sword,  which  his  Frank  people 
alone  enabled  him  to  sustain.  But  about  two  years  before 
liis  death,  as  Gregory  of  Tours  relates,  the  emperor  Anas- 


Chap.  I.  .  THE  FRANKS.  113 

tasius  bestowed  upon  liim  the  dijxiiity  of  consul :  and  this  has 
been  eajrerly  caught  at  by  the  school  of  Dubos  as  a  tact  of 
higli  iniportjuice,  and  as  oslabhshing  a  positive  right  of 
sovereignty,  at  least  over  the  Romans,  that  is,  the  provincial 
inhabitants  of  Gaul,  which  descended  to  the  long  line  of  the 
Merovingian  house.  Sir  Francis  Palgrave,  indeed,  mure 
strongly  than  Dubos  himself,  seems  to  consider  the  French 
monarch V  as  deriving  its  pedigree  from  Rome  rather  than  the 
Ell)e. 

The  first  question  that  must  natui'ally  arise  is,  as  to  the 
value  assignable  to  the  evidence  of  Gregory  of  Tours  re- 
specting the  gift  of  Anastasius.  Some  might  hesitate,  at 
lea>t,  to  accept  the  story  in  all  its  circumstances.  Gregory  is 
neither  a  contemporary  nor,  in  such  a  point,  an  altogether 
trustworthy  witness.  His  style  is  verbose  and  rhetorical ; 
and,  even  in  matters  of  positive  history,  scanty  as  are  our 
means  of  refuting  him,  he  has  sometimes  exposed  his  igno- 
rance, and  more  often  given  a  tone  of  improbability  to  his  nar- 
rative. An  instance  of  the  former  occurs  in  his  third  Ijook, 
respecting  tlie  death  of  the  widow  of  Theodoric,  contradicted 
by  known  history ;  and  for  the  latter  we  may  refer  to  the 
language  he  ])uts  into  the  moutli  of  Clotilda,  who  urges  her 
hui-ljaud  to  tlie  worsliip  of  Mars  and  Mercury,  divinities  of 
whom  he  had  never  heard. 

The  main  fact,  however,  that  Anastasius  conferred  the  dig- 
nity of  consul  upon  Clovis,  cannot  be  rejected.  Although  it 
has  been  alleged  that  his  name  does  not  occur  in  the  Consular 
Fasti,  this  seems  of  no  great  importance,  since  the  title  was 
meri'ly  an  honorary  distinction,  not  connecting  him  with  the 
empire  as  its  subject.  Guizot,  indeed,  and  Sismondi  conceive 
that  he  was  only  invested  with  the  consular  robe,  according  to 
what  they  Uike  to  have  been  the  usage  of  the  Byzantine 
court.  Jiut  Gregory,  by  the  words  codicillos  de  consukdii, 
seems  to  imjjly  a  formal  grant.  Nor  does  the  fact  rest  solely 
on  his  evidence,  though  his  residence  at  Tours  would  put  him 
in  i)os-e<sion  of  the  local  tra<lition.  Ilincniar,  tiie  famous 
bi«hop  of  liheims,  has  left  a  Life  of  St.  Reniy,  by  wlioin 
Clovis  was  baptized  ;  and,  though  he  wrote  in  the  nintli 
century,  he  had  seen  extracts  from  a  contemporary  Life  of 
that  saint,  not  then,  he  says,  entirely  extant,  whicli  Life  ma\ 
rea-onalily  be  thought  to  have  furnished  the  sultstance  ot" 
the  second  book  of  Gregory's  history.     We  find  in    lliiKinar 

viii,.  I.  8 


114  THE  FRANKS.  Notes  to 

the  language  of  Gregory  on  the  consulship  of  Clovis,  with  a 
little  ditference  of  expression :  "  Cum  quibus  codicillis  etiam  illi 
Anastasius  coronam  auream  cum  gemmis,  et  tunicam  blateam 
misit,  et  ab  ea  die  consul  et  Augustus  est  appellatus."  (Rec. 
des  Hist.  vol.  iii.  p.  379.)  Now,  the  words  of  Gregory  are  the 
following :  —  "  Igitur  ab  Anastasio  imperatore  codicillos  de 
consulatu  accepit,  et  in  basilica  beati  Martini  tunica  blatea  in- 
dutus  est  et  clamyde,  imponens  vertici  diadema.  Tunc  ascenso 
equite,  aurum,  argentumque  in  itinere  illo,  quod  inter  portam 
atrii  basilicas  beati  Martini  et  ecclesiam  civitatis  est,  prsBsenti- 
bus  populis  manu  propria  spargens,  voluntate  benignissima 
erogavit,  et  ab  ea  die  tanquam  consul  aut  Augustus  est  voci- 
tatus."  The  minuteness  of  local  description  implies  the  tra- 
dition of  the  city  of  Tours,  which  Gregory  would,  of  course, 
know,  and  renders  all  scepticism  as  to  the  main  story  very 
unreasonable.  Thus,  if  we  suppose  the  Life  of  St.  Remy  to 
have  been  the  original  authority,  Anastasius  will  have  sent  a 
crown  to  Clovis.  And  this  would  explain  the  words  of  Greg- 
ory, "  imponens  vertici  diadema."  Such  an  addition  to  the 
dignity  of  consul  is,  doubtless,  remarkable,  and  might  of  itself 
lead  us  to  infer  that  the  latter  was  not  meant  in  its  usual 
sense.  This  passage  is  in  other  respects  more  pi-ecise  than  in 
Gregory ;  it  has  not  the  indefinite  and  almost  unintelligible 
words  tanquam  consul,  and  has  et  instead  of  aut  Augustus ; 
which  latter  conjunction,  however,  in  low  Latin,  is  often  put 
for  the  former. 

But,  though  the  historical  evidence  is  considerably  strength- 
ened by  the  supposition  that  Gregory  copied  a  Life  of  St. 
Remigius  of  nearly  contemporary  date  with  the  event,  we  do 
not  find  all  our  difficulty  removed  so  as  to  render  it  implicit 
credence  in  every  particular.  That  Clovis  would  be  called 
consul  by  the  provincial  Romans  after  he  had  received  the 
title  from  Anastasius  is  very  natural ;  that  he  was  ever  called, 
even  by  them,  Augustus,  that  is.  Emperor,  except  perhaps  in 
a  momentary  acclamation,  we  may  not  unreasonably  scruple 
to  believe.  The  imperial  title  would  hardly  be  assumed  by 
one  who  pretended  only  to  a  local  sovereignty ;  nor  is  such  a 
usurpation  consistent  with  the  theory  that  the  Frank  chieftain 
was  on  terms  of  friendsliip  with  the  court  of  Constantinople, 
and  in  subordination  to  it.  One  or  other  hypothesis  must  sure- 
ly be  rejected.  If  Clovis  was  called  emperor  (and  when  did 
Augustus  bear  any  other  meaning  ?),  he  was  no  vicegerent  of 


Chap.  I.  THE  FRANKS.  1 1  •) 

Ana.*tasiu?,  no  consul  of  the  empire.  T>iu  the  mo.«t  materinl 
ob.<ervations  that  ari^e  are.  —  first,  that  the  ilijrnity  of  consul 
was  merely  personal,  and  we  have  not  the  slitrlitest  evidence 
that  any  of  the  posterity  of  Clovis  either  acquired  or  assumed 
it ;  secondly  that  the  Franks  alone  were  the  source  of  power 
to  the  house  of  Mcroveus.  "  Tlie  actual  and  legal  authority 
of  Clovis,"  says  Gibbon,  "could  not  receive  any  new  acces- 
sion from  the  consular  dignity.  It  was  a  name,  a  shadow,  an 
empty  pageant  ;  and,  if  the  conqueror  had  been  instructed  to 
claim  the  ancient  prerogatives  of  that  higli  office,  tiicy  must 
have  expired  with  the  period  of  its  annual  duration.  But  the 
Romans  were  disposed  to  revere  in  the  person  of  their  master 
that  antique  title  wiiich  the  emperors  condescended  to  as- 
sume ;  the  barbarian  himself  seemed  to  contract  a  sacred 
obligation  to  respect  the  majesty  of  the  republic;  and  the 
succes.sors  of  Theodosius,  by  soliciting  his  friendship,  tacitly 
forgave  and  almost  ratified  the  usurpation  of  Gaul."  (Chap, 
xxxviii.)  It  does  not  appear  to  me,  therefore,  very  material 
towards  the  understanding  French  history,  what  was  the  in- 
tention of  Anastasius  in  conferring  the  name  of  consul  on  the 
king  of  the  Franks.  It  wa.s  a  token  of  amity,  no  doubt ;  a 
pledge,  perhaps,  that  the  court  of  Constantinople  renounced 
the  hope  of  asserting  its  pretensions  to  govern  a  province  so 
irrecoverably  separated  from  it  as  Gaul;  but  were  it  even 
the  absolute  cession  of  a  right,  which,  by  the  usual  law  of 
nations,  required  something  fiir  more  explicit,  it  would  not 
affect  in  any  degree  the  real  authority  whicli  Clovis  had  won 
by  the  sword,  and  had  exercised  for  more  than  twenty  years 
over  the  unresisting  subjects  of  the  Roman  empire. 

A  different  argument  for  tiie  theory  of  devolution  of  power 
from  the  Byzaiuinc  emperor  on  the  Franks  is  founded  on  the 
cession  of  Justinian  to  Theodebert  king  of  Austrasia,  in  540. 
Provence,  whicii  continued  in  the  possession  of  the  emperors 
for  some  time  after  tlie  conquest  of  Gaul  by  Clovis,  had  fallen 
into  the  hands  of  the  Ostrogoths,  tiien  masters  of  Italy.  Tiie 
alliance  of  tiie  F'rank  king  was  sought  by  both  partit's,  at  the 
price  of  what  one  enjoyed  and  the  other  claimed  —  Provence, 
with  its  wealthy  cities  of  .M;ir>eilles  and  Arh.-s.  Tiieodelicrt 
was  no  vr-ry  good  ally,  eitiier  to  the  Greeks  or  the  Goths ; 
but  he  occupied  the  territory,  and  after  a  few  years  it  wa.s 
formally  ce<led  to  him  by  Justinian,  "  That  euqicror,"  in  the 
words  of  Gibbon,  who  lias  not  told  tlie  history  very  exactly. 


116  THE  FEAXKS.  Notes  to 

"generously  yielding  to  the  Franks  the  sovereignty  of  the 
countries  beyond  the  Alps  wliich  they  already  possessed,  ab- 
solved the  provincials  from  their  allegiance,  and  established, 
on  a  more  lawful,  though  not  more  solid  foundation,  the  throne 
of  the  Merovingians."  Procopius,  in  his  Greek  vanity,  pre- 
tends that  the  Franks  never  thought  themselves  secure  of 
Gaul  until  they  obtained  this  sanction  from  the  emperor. 
"  This  strong  declaration  of  Procopius,"  says  Gibbon,  "  would 
almost  suffice  to  justify  the  abbe  Dubos."  I  cannot,  however, 
rate  the  courage  of  that  people  so  low  as  to  believe  that  they 
feared  the  armies  of  Justinian,  which  they  had  lately  put  to 
flight  in  Italy  ;  nor  do  I  know  that  a  title  of  sixty  years'  pos- 
session gains  much  legality  by  the  cession  of  one  who  had  as- 
serted no  claim  during  that  period.  Constantinople  had 
tacitly  renounced  the  western  provinces  of  Rome  by  her  ina- 
bility to  maintain  them.  I  must,  moreover,  express  some 
doubt  whether  Procopius  ever  meant  to  say  that  Justinian  con- 
firmed to  the  Frank  sovereign  his  rights  over  the  whole  of 
Gaul.  He  uses,  indeed,  the  word  TaTAia^ ;  but  that  should,  I 
think,  be  understood  according  to  the  general  sense  of  the 
passage,  which  would  limit  its  meaning  to  Provence,  their 
recent  acquisition,  and  that  which  the  Ostrogoths  had  already 
relinquished  to  them.  Gibbon,  on  the  authority  of  Procopius, 
goes  on  to  say  that  the  gold  coin  of  the  Merovingian  kings, 
''  by  a  singular  privilege,  which  was  denied  to  the  Persian 
monarch,  obtained  a  legal  currency  in  the  empii'e."  But  this 
legal  currency  is  not  distinctly  mentioned  by  Procopius, 
though  he  strangely  asserts  that  it  was  not  lawful,  oh  Miiiq, 
for  the  king  of  Persia  to  coin  gold  with  his  own  effigy,  as  if 
the  MiiL^  of  Constantinople  were  regarded  at  Seleucia.  There 
is  reason  to  believe  that  the  Goths,  as  well  as  Franks,  coined 
gold,  which  might  possibly  circulate  in  the  empire,  without 
having,  strictly  speaking,  a  legal  cun*ency.  The  expressions 
of  Agathias,  quoted  above,  that  the  Franks  had  nearly  the 
same  form  of  government,  and  the  same  laws,  as  the  Romans, 
may  be  understood  as  a  mistaken  view  of  what  Procopius 
says  in  a  passage  which  will  be  hereafter  quoted,  and  which 
Agathias,  a  later  writer,  perhaps  has  followed,  that  the  Roman 
inhabitants  of  Gaul  retained  their  institutions  under  the 
Franks ;  which  was  certainly  true,  though  by  no  means  more 
so  than  under  the  Visigoths. 


Chap.  I.  THE  MEROVIXGLIN   PERIOD.  117 


Note  IV.     Page  19. 

It  ought,  perhaps,  to  be  observed,  that  no  jieriod  of  ecclesi- 
astical iiistorv,  especially  in  France,  has  supplied  more  saint-; 
to  tiie  calendar.  It  is  the  golden  age  of  hagioJDgy.  Tliiriv 
French  bishops,  under  Clovis  and  his  sons  alone,  are  vener- 
ated in  the  lt<.)uian  eluurli ;  and  not  less  than  seventv-one 
saints,  during  tin'  >auie  >hi>rt  pi-riod,  have  sui)plied  some  his- 
torical intbrination.  through  their  Lives  in  Acta  Sanctorum. 
'•  The  foundation  of  half  the  French  churches,"  says  Sis- 
mondi,  "  dates  from  that  epoch."  (Vol.  i.  p.  oOS.)  Nor  was 
the  seventh  century  much  less  i)roductive  of  that  harvest. 
Of  the  service  which  the  Lives  of  the  vSaints  have  rendered 
tu  history,  as  well  as  of  the  incredible  deficiencies  of  its  ordi- 
narv  sources,  some  notion  mav  be  jrained  liv  the  stranire  fact 
mentioned  in  Sismondi,  that  a  king  of  Austrasia,  Dagobert 
II..  was  wholly  overlooked  by  historians  ;  and  ids  reign,  from 
074:  to  078,  only  retrieved  by  some  learned  men  in  the  seven- 
teenth century,  through  the  Life  of  our  Saint  Wilfred,  who 
lunl  [)assed  through  France  on  his  way  to  Rome.  (Hist,  des 
Fran<;ais,  vol.  ii.  p.  .31.)  But  there  is  a  diploma  of  this 
prinee  in  Rec.  des  Hist,  vol  iv.  p.  08.5. 

Sismondi  is  too  severe  a  censurer  of  the  religious  senti- 
ment which  actuated  the  men  of  this  period.  It  did  not  pre- 
vent crimes,  even  in  tliosc.  frecpientiy,  who  were  penetrated 
by  it.  But  we  cannot  im|»ute  to  the  ascetic  superstition  of 
the  sixth  and  seventh  centuries,  as  we  may  to  the  persecuting 
spirit  of  later  ages,  that  it  occasioned  them  —  crimes,  at  least, 
which  stand  fortii  in  history ;  for  to  fraud  and  falsehood  it,  no 
question,  lent  its  aid.  The  Lives  of  the  Saints,  amidst  all  the 
mass  of  falsehood  and  sU|terstition  wiiich  incrusts  them,  bear 
witness  not  oidy  to  an  intense  piety,  which  no  one  will  di" 
pute,  but  to  much  of  charity  and  mercy  toward  man.  But, 
even  if  we  should  often  doubt  jtarlicular  facts  from  slender- 
ness  of  proof,  they  are  at  least  such  as  the  compilers  of  the>e 
legends  thought  praiseworthy,  and  such  as  the  readers  of  them 
would  be  encouraged  to  imitate.^ 

•  M.  \my>i-n  Uhk  wi-Il  obwrvea  Uiat  it  of  Proviiionoc  HupportinR  tin'  fiiitliful  in 

wiLH   not  the   iiii-n-  hit<-rcrtt  of  the  nUiry,  tliose  troiililniiH   tiiiics,  iiiiJ  nf  Hiiiiit"  al- 

nor  (fvi-n  tlie  M<iil   munility.  wliirli  coii-  wujh   intcrl'iTint;   in   favor  of   tin-  iiinn- 

stituU'il   till-  |>rinc-l|i.'il  rlinnn  of  the  If-  cent.  —  Uint.  lAtt.  Jo  la  Frum-c  avuut  li' 

gcuiiit  of  luiiutx  ;  it  woji  the  coiutJiut  ideu  I'i'oo  !<i6clo,  ii.  3UU. 


118  THE  MEROVINGIAN  PERIOD.  Notes  to 

St.  Bathikla,  of  Anglo-Saxon  birth,  queen  of  Clovis  II., 
redeeming  her  countrymen  from  servitude,  to  which  the  bar- 
barous manners  of  their  own  people  frequently  exposed  them, 
is  in  some  measure  a  set-off  against  the  tyrant  princes  of  the 
fiunily  mto  which  she  had  come.  And  many  other  instances 
of  similar  virtue  are  attested  with  reasonable  probability. 
Sismondi  never  fuUy  learned  to  judge  men  according  to  a 
subjective  standard,  that  is,  their  own  notions  of  right  and 
wrong  ;  or  even  to  perceive  the  immediate  good  consequences 
of  many  principles,  as  well  as  social  institutions  connected 
with  them,  which  we  would  no  more  Avillingly  tolerate  at 
present  than  himself.  In  this  respect  Guizot  has  displayed  a 
more  philosophical  temper.  Still  there  may  be  some  caution 
necessary  not  to  carry  this  subjective  estimate  of  human 
actions  too  far,  lest  we  lose  sight  of  their  intrinsic  quality. 

We  have,  unfortunately,  to  set  against  the  saintly  legends 
an  enormous  mass  of  bettei'-attested  crimes,  especially  of  op- 
pression and  cruelty.  Perhaps  there  is  hardly  any  history 
extending  over  a  century  which  records  so  much  of  this  with 
so  little  information  of  any  virtue,  any  public  spirit,  any  wis- 
dom, as  the  ten  books  of  Gregory  of  Tours.  The  seventh 
century  has  no  historian  equally  circumstantial ;  but  the  tale 
of  the  seventh  century  is  in  substance  the  same.  The  Eo- 
nian  fraud  and  perfidy  mingled,  in  baleful  confluence,  with 
the  ferocity  and  violence  of  the  Frank. 

"  Those  wild  men's  vices  they  receiv'd, 
And  gave  them  back  their  own." 

If  the  church  was  deeply  tainted  with  both  these  classes  of 
crune,  it  was  at  least  less  so,  especially  with  the  latter,  than 
the  rest  of  the  nation.  A  saint  might  have  many  faults ;  but 
it  is  strongly  to  be  presumed  that  Aiankind  did  not  canonize 
such  monsters  as  the  kings  and  nobles  of  whom  we  read 
almost  exclusively  in  Gregory  of  Tours.  A  late  writer,  actu- 
ated by  the  hatred  of  antiquity,  and  especially  of  kings, 
nobles,  and  priests,  which  is  too  much  the  popular  creed  of 
France,  has  collected  from  age  to  age  every  testimony  to  the 
w^ickethiess  of  the  powerful.  His  proofs  are  one-sided,  and, 
consequently,  there  is  some  unfairness  in  the  conclusions ;  but 
the  facts  are,  for  the  most  part,  irresistibly  true.  (Dulaure, 
Hist,  de  Paris,  passim. 


Chai-.  I.  MAYORS  OF  THE  PALACE.  119 


Note  V.     Page  20. 

Tlu>  flavor  of  the  Palace  ajipears  as  the  first  oifioer  of  the 
crown  in  tlie  three  Frank  kingdoms  dunng  the  hitter  hah'  of 
the  fixth  century.  He  had  the  command,  as  Gnizot  sup- 
poses, of  the  Antrustions,  or  vassals  of  the  king.  Even  after- 
wards the  olRce  was  not,  as  this  writer  believes,  })roperly 
elective,  though  in  the  case  of  a  minority  of  the  king,  or 
upon  other  special  occasions,  the  leudes,  or  nobles,  chose  a 
maynr.  The  first  instance  we  find  of  such  an  election  was 
jn  o7o,  when,  after  the  murder  of  Sigebert  by  Fredegonde, 
his  son  Childebert  being  an  infant,  the  Austrasian  leudes  chose 
Gogon  for  their  mayor.  There  seem,  however,  so  many  in- 
stances of  elective  mayors  in  the  seventh  century,  that,  al- 
though the  royal  consent  may  probably  have  been  legally 
requisite,  it  is  hard  to  doubt  that  the  ottice  had  fallen  into  the 
hands  of  the  nobles.  Thus,  in  G41  :  —  "  Flaochatus,  genere 
Francus,  major-domus  in  regnum  Burgundiie,  electione  ponti- 
ficum  et  cunctorum  ducum  a  Nautechilde  regina  in  hunc 
gradum  honoris  noliiliter  stabilitur."  (Fredegar.  C'hron.  c. 
8"J.)  And  on  the  election  of  Ebroin  :  — "  Franci  in  incertum 
vacillantes,  accepto  consiUo,  Ebruinum  in  hujus  honoris  curam 
ac  dignitatem  statuunt."  (c.  02.)  On  the  death  of  Ebroin  in 
Csi,  "  Franci  AVarratoncm  viruin  illustrem  in  locum  ejus  cum 
jussione  regis  majorem-donuis  palalio  constituunt."  These 
two  instances  were  in  Neustria ;  the  aristocratic  power  was 
still  greater  in  the  other  parts  of  the  monarchy. 

Si.>mondi  adopts  a  very  difierent  theory,  clinging  a  little  too 
much  to  the  democratic  visions  of  Mably.  "  If  we  knew 
better,"  he  says,  "  the  constitution  of  the  monarchy,  perhaps 
we  might  find  that  the  mayoi-,  like  the  Justiciary  of  Aragon, 
was  the  representative,  not  of  the  great,  but  of  the  freemen, 
and  taken  generally  from  the  second  rank  in  society,  charged 
to  repress  the  excesses  of  the  aristociacy  as  \vell  as  of  tiie 
crown."  (Hist,  des  Fran^ais,  vol.  ii.  p.  4.)  Nothing  a|)pears 
to  warrant  this  vague  conjecture,  which  Guizot  wholly  rejects, 
as  he  does  also  tin;  derivation  of  major-domus  from  mord- 
dohmcn.  a  verb  signifying  to  scuitencc  to  death,  which  Sis- 
mondi  brings  forward  to  sustain  his  I'ancil'ul  analogy  to  the 
Anigonese  justiciary. 

The  hypothesis,  indeed,  tliat  the  mayor  of  tlie  ]iai;tcc   was 


120  MAYORS  OF  THE  PALACE.  Notes  to 

chosen  out  of  the  common  freeholders,  and  not  the  highest 
class,  is  not  only  contrary  to  everything  we  read  of  the  aristo- 
cratical  denomination  in  the  Merovingian  kingdoms,  but  to  a 
passage  in  Fredegarius,  to  which  probably  others  might  be 
added.  Protadius,  he  informs  us,  a  mayor  of  Brunehaut's 
choice,  endeavored  to  oppress  all  men  of  high  birth,  that  no 
one  might  be  found  capable  of  holding  the  charge  in  his  room 
(c.  27).  This,  indeed,  was  in  the  sixth  century,  before  any 
sort  of  election  -was  knoAvn.  But  m  the  seventh  the  power 
of  the  great,  and  not  of  the  people,  meets  us  at  every  turn. 
Mably  himself  would  have  owned  that  his  democracy  had 
then  ceased  to  exercise  any  power. 

The  Austrasian  mayors  of  the  palace  were,  from  the  reign 
of  Clotaire  II.,  men  of  great  power,  and  taken  fi-om  the  house 
of  Pepin  of  Landen.  They  carried  forward,  ultimately  for 
their  own  aggrandizement,  the  aristocratic  system  which  had 
overturned  Brunehaut.  Ebroin,  on  the  other  hand,  in  Neus- 
tria,  must  be  considered  as  keeping  up  the  struggle  of  the 
royal  authority,  which  he  exercised  in  the  name  of  several 
phantoms  of  kings,  against  the  encroachments  of  the  aristoc- 
racy, though  he  could  not  resist  them  with  final  success. 
Sismondi  (vol.  ii.  p.  64)  iancies  that  Ebroin  was  a  leader  of 
the  freemen  against  the  nobles.  But  he  finds  a  democratic 
party  everywhere ;  and  Guizot  justly  questions  the  conject- 
ure (Collection  des  Memoires,  vol.  ii.  p.  320).  Sismondi,  in 
consequence  of  this  hypothesis,  favors  Ebroin ;  for  whom  it 
may  be  alleged  that  we  have  no  account  of  his  character  but 
from  his  enemies,  chiefly  the  biographer  of  St.  Leger.  M. 
Lehuei'ou  sums  up  his  history  with  apj)arent  justice:  — 
"  Ainsi  perit,  apres  une  administration  de  vingt  ans,  un 
homme  remarquable  a  tons  egards,  mais  que  le  triomphe  de 
ses  ennemis  a  failli  desheriter  de  sa  gloire.  Ses  violences 
sont  pen  douteuses,  mais  son  genie  ne  Test  pas  davantage,  et 
rien  ne  prouve  mieux  la  terreur  qu'il  inspirait  aux  Austra- 
siens  que  les  injures  qu'ils  lui  ont  prodiguees."  (Institutions 
Carolingiennes,  p.  281.) 

Note  VI.   Page  20. 

Ai-ibert,  or  rather  Caribert,  brother  of  Dagobert  I.,  was 
declared  king  of  Aquitaine  in  628 ;  but  on  his  death,  in  631, 
it  became  a  duchy  dependent  on  the  monarchy  under  his  two 


Chap.  I.  AQUITAINE.  121 

son?,  with  its  capital  at  Touloii'^e.  Tliis  tlcpendoiu-o.  however, 
appears  to  have  soon  ceixsed,  in  the  ilicay  of  the  ^lerovingian 
line  ;  and  tor  a  century  afterwards  Aqiiitaine  can  hardly  he 
considered  as  part  of  either  the  Neustrian  or  Anstrasian 
kingdom.  -^  L'ancienne  population  Roniaine  travaillait  sans 
cesse  a  ressaisir  son  independance.  Les  Francs  avaient 
conipiis,  mais  ne  possedaient  vrainient  pas  ces  con  trees.  Des 
que  leurs  irrandes  incin'sions  ces^aient.  les  villes  et  les  cain- 
piignes  se  soulevaient,  et  se  confederaient  pour  secouer  le  joug." 
(Guizot,  Cours  d'Hist.  Moderne,  ii.  229.)  This  important 
tact,  tiiough  acknowledged  in  passing  hv  most  historians,  has 
been  largely  illustrated  in  the  valuable  Ilistoii'e  de  la  Gaule 
Meridionale,  by  JM.  Fauriel. 

Aquitaine,  in  its  fullest  extent,  extended  from  the  Loire 
beyond  th'e  Garonne,  with  the  eX('cj)tioii  of  Touraine  and  the 
Orleainiois.  Tlie  2)eople  of  Aquitaine,  in  this  large  sense 
of  the  word,  were  chiefly  Romans,  with  a  few  Goths.  Tlie 
Fn\nks,  as  a  conquering  nation,  had  scarcely  taken  up  their 
abode  in  those  provinces.  But  undoubtedly,  the  Merovingian 
kings  possessed  estates  in  the  south  of  France,  which  they 
liberally  bestowed  as  benefices  upon  their  kudes,  so  that  the 
chief  men  were  frequently  of  Frank  origin.  They  threw 
off.  nevertheless,  their  hereditary  attaclinients,  and  joined 
with  tlie  mass  of  their  new^  countrymen  in  striving  for  the 
independence  of  Aquit;iine.  After  the  battle  of  Testry, 
which  subverted  the  Neustrian  monarchy,  Aquitaine,  and 
even  Burgundy,  ceased  for  a  time  to  be  French  ;  under 
Charles  Martel  they  were  styled  the  Roman  countries. 
(Michelet,  ii.  9.) 

Eudon,  by  some  called  Eudes,  grandson  of  Caribert,  a 
prince  of  cons|)icuous  qualities,  gained  ground  upon  the 
Franks  during  tlie  whole  period  of  Pepin  Ileristal's  power, 
and  united  to  Aquitaine,  not  only  Provence,  but  a  new 
conquest  from  the  iiuhipendent  natives,  Gascony.  Eudon 
obtained  in  721  a  far  greater  victory  over  the  Saracens  than 
that  of  Charles  ]\rartel  at  Poitiers.  The  slaughter  was 
immense,  and  confessed  by  the  Arabian  writers  ;  it  even 
appears  that  a  funeral  soleiimity,  in  commemoration  of  so 
gn-at  a  calaiiiitv.  was  ol)serve<l  in  vS|)ain  tor  four  or  five 
centuries  afterwards.  (Fauriel,  iii.  79.)  But  in  its  conse- 
quences it  was  far  less  important ;  tin-  the  Saracens,  some 
years  afterwards,  returned  to  avenge  their  coMiilrytMrii,  and 


122  AUSTEASIA  AISTD  NEUSTRIA.  Notes  to 

Eudon  had  no  resource  but  in  the  aid  of  Charles  Martel. 
After  the  retreat  of  the  enemy  it  became  the  necessary  price 
of  the  service  rendered  by  the  Frank  chieftain  that  Aquitaine 
acknowledged  his  sovereignty.  This,  however,  was  still  but 
nominal,  till  Pepin  determined  to  assert  it  more  seriously, 
and  after  a  long  war  overcame  the  last  of  the  ducal  line 
sprung  from  Clotaire  II.,  which  had  displayed,  for  almost  a 
century  and  a  half,  an  energy  in  contrast  with  the  imbecihty 
of  the  elder  branch.  Even  this,  as  M.  Fauriel  observes, 
was  little  more  than  a  change  in  the  reigning  family ;  the 
men  of  Aquitaine  never  lost  their  peculiar  nationality ;  they 
remained  a  separate  people  in  Gaul,  a  people  distinguished 
by  their  character,  and  by  the  part  which  they  were  called 
to  play  in  the  political  revolutions  of  the  age.    (Vol.  iii.  300.) 

Note  VII.     Page  20. 

Pepin  Heristal  was  styled  Duke  of  Austrasia,  but  assumed 
the  mayoralty  of  Neustria  after  his  great  victory  at  Testry 
in  687,  which  humbled  for  a  long  time  the  great  rival  branch 
of  the  monarchy.  But  he  fixed  his  residence  at  Cologne, 
and  his  family  seldom  kept  their  court  at  Paris.  The  Franks 
under  Pepin,  his  son  and  grandson,  "  seemed  for  a  second 
time,"  says  Sismondi,  "  to  have  conquered  Gaul ;  it  is  a  new 
invasion  of  the  language,  the  military  spii-it,  and  the  manners 
of  Germany,  though  only  recorded  by  historians  as  the  vic- 
tory of  the  Austrasians  over  the  Neustrians  in  a  civil  war. 
The  chiefs  of  the  Carlovingian  family  called  themselves,  like 
their  predecessors,  kings  of  the  Franks  :  they  appear  as 
legitimate  successors  of  Clovis  and  his  family ;  yet  all  is 
changed  in  their  spirit  and  tlieir  manners."     (Vol.  ii.  p.  170.) 

This  revival  of  a  truly  German  spirit  in  the  French  mon- 
archy had  not  been  sufficiently  indicated  by  the  historians  of 
the  eighteenth  century.  It  began  with  the  fall  of  Brunehaut, 
which  annihilated  the  scheme,  not  peculiar  to  herself,  but 
carried  on  by  her  with  remarkable  steadiness,  of  establishing 
a  despotism  analogous  to  that  of  the  empire.  The  Roman 
policy  expired  witii  her  ;  Clotaire  II.  and  Dagobert  I.  were 
merely  kings  of  barbarians,  exercising  what  authority  they 
might,  but  on  no  settled  scheme  of  absolute  power.  Their 
successors  were  unworthy  to  be  mentioned  ;  though  in 
Neustria,    through   their   mayors   of  the    palace,  the   royal 


Chap.  I.  DH'ISIONS  OF  TIIE.  123 

authority  may  have  been  apparoTitly  better  maintained  than 
in  the  eastern  i>ortion  of  the  kingdom.  The  kingdoms  ot" 
Australia  and  Neuslria  rested  on  dilierent  bases.  In  the 
tbnner  tlie  Franks  were  more  numerous,  less  seattered.  and, 
as  tar  as  we  ean  perceive,  had  a  more  considerable  nobility. 
They  had  received  a  less  tincture  of  Roman  policy.  They 
were  nearer  to  the  mother  country,  which  had  been,  as  the 
earth  to  Anta'us,  the  source  of  perpetually  recruited  vigor. 
Burgundy,  a  member  latterly  of  the  Neustrian  monarchy, 
luul  also  a  powerful  aristocracy,  but  not  in  so  great  a  degree, 
prubaldy.  of  Frank,  or  even  liarbarian  descent.  The  battle 
of  Testry  was  the  second  epoch,  as  the  fall  of  Brunehaut  had 
been  the  first,  in  the  restoration  of  a  barbaric  supremacy  to 
the  kingdom  of  Clovis ;  and  the  benefices  granted  by  Charles 
]Martel  were  the  third.  It  required  the  interference  of  the 
Holy  See,  in  confirming  the  throne  of  the  younger  Pepin, 
and  still  more  the  splendid  (jualities  of  Charlemagne,  to  keep 
up,  even  for  a  time,  the  royal  authority  and  the  dominion 
of  law.  It  is  highly  important  to  keep  in  our  minds  this 
distinction  between  Austrasia  and  Neustria,  subsisting  for 
some  ages,  and,  in  fact,  only  re})laced,  s^jcaking  without  exact 
geograjjhical  precision,  by  that  of  Germany  and  France. 

Note  VIII.     Page  21. 

The  IMerovingian  period  is  so  briefly  touched  in  the  text, 
as  not,  I  fear,  to  be  very  distinctly  ajiprchended  by  every 
reader.  It  may  assist  the  memory  to  sketch  rather  a  better 
outhne,  di.-tributing  the  i)eriod  into  the  following  divisions:  — 

I.  The  reign  of  Clovis.  —  The  Frank  monarchy  is  estab- 
lished in  Gaul ;  the  R4)mans  and  Visigoths  are  subdued ; 
Christianity,  in  its  Catholic  tbrm,  is  as  entirely  recognized  as 
under  the  empire ;  the  Franks  and  Romans,  without  greatly 
intermingling,  preserve  in  the  main  their  separate  institutions. 

II.  The  reigns  of  his  four  sons,  till  the  death  of  Clotaire  L, 
the  survivor,  in  501.  —  A  period  of  great  aggandizement 
to  the  monarchy.  Burgundy  and  Provence  in  &ud  itsidf. 
Thiiringia,  Sualiia,  and  Bavaria  on  the  other  side  of  the 
Ivhint',  are  anncxi-d  U)  their  donunions  ;  while  every  crime 
disgraces  the  royal  line,  and  in  none  more  than  in  Clotaire  I. 

III.  A  Hcooiul  partition  among  his  four  sons  ensues:  the 
four  kingdoms  of   Paris,    Soissons,    Orleans,  and  Australia 


124:  MEROVINGIAN  PEEIOD.  Notes  to 

revive ;  but  a  new  partition  of  these  is  required  by  the  re- 
cent conquests,  and  Gontran  of  Orleans,  without  resigning 
that  kingdom,  removes  his  residence  to  Burgundy.  The 
four  kingdoms  are  reduced  to  three  by  the  death  of  Caribert 
of  Paris ;  one,  afterwards  very  celebrated  by  the  name  Neus- 
tria,^  between  the  iScheldt  and  the  Loire,  is  formed  under 
Chilperic,  comprehending  those  of  Paris  and  Soissons.  Ca- 
ribert of  Paris  had  taken  Aquitaine,  which  at  his  death  was 
divided  among  the  three  survivors ;  Austrasia  was  the  por- 
tion of  Sigebert.  This  generation  was  fruitful  of  still  more 
crimes  than  the  last,  redeemed  by  no  golden  glory  of  con- 
quest. Fredegonde,  the  wife  of  Chilijeric,  diffuses  a  baleful 
light  over  this  period.  But  while  she  tyrannizes  with  little 
control  in  the  west  of  France,  her  rival  and  sister  in  crime, 
Brunehaut,  wife  of  Sigebert  and  mother  of  Thierry  II.  his 
successor,  has  to  encounter  a  powerful  opposition  from  the 
Austrasian  aristocracy ;  and  in  this  part  of  the  monarchy  a 
new  feature  develops  itself;  the  great  projivietors,  or  nobil- 
ity, act  systematically  with  a  view  to  restrain  the  royal  pow- 
er. Brunehaut,  after  many  vicissitudes,  and  after  having 
seen  her  two  sons  on  the  thrones  of  Austrasia  and  Burgun- 
dy, falls  mto  the  hands  of  Clotaire  II.,  king  of  the  other 
division,  and  is  sentenced  to  a  cruel  death.  Clotaire  unites 
the  three  Frank  kingdoms. 

IV.  Reigns  of  Clotaire  II.  and  his  son  Dagobert  I.  —  The 
royal  power,  though  shaken  by  the  Austrasian  aristocracy,  is 
still  effective.  Dagobert,  a  prince  who  seems  to  have  rather 
excelled  most  of  his  family,  and  to  whose  munificence  sev- 
eral extant  monuments  of  architecture  and  the  arts  are  refer- 
red, endeavours  to  stem  the  current.  He  was  the  last  of  the 
Merovingians  who  appears  to  have  possessed  any  distinctive 
character:  the  Insensati  follow.  After  the  reisn  of  Dago- 
bert  most  of  the  provinces  beyond  the  Loire  fall  off,  as  it 
may  be  said,  from  the  monarchy,  and  hardly  belong  to  it  for 
a  century. 

V.  The  fifth  period  begins  with  the  accession  of  Clovis 
II.,  son  of  Dagobert,  in  638,  and  terminates  with  Pepin 
Heristal's  victory  over  the  Neustrians  at  Testry,  in  687.     It 

1  Neustria,  or  Western  France,  is  first  Tours,  as  I  find  by  the  index;   and  M. 

mentioned  in  a  diploma  of  Childebert,  Lehuerou  seems  to  think  that  it  was  not 

•with  the  date  of  558.     But  the  genuine-  much  used  till  after  the  death  of  Brune- 

ness  of  this  has  been  d('iiied  :  tiie  word  haut,  in  613. 
never  occurs  in  the  history  of  Gregory  of 


CiiAi-.  I.  SUBJECTION  OF  THE  SAXONS.  1  ^.'t 

is  di>tiniriii>lioil  l)v  tho  apparent  equality  dt"  the  two  icniaiii- 
iiijr  kiii;:iluins,  liurgiiiKly  liu\  ing  now  tiiUeii  into  tliat  of 
Xeustria,  and  by  the  degradation  of  the  royal  line,  in  each 
alike,  into  puppets  of  the  mayors  of  the  palaee.  It  is,  in 
Austnisia.  the  triumph  of  the  aristoeraey,  among  whom  the 
Ijishops  are  still  more  prominent  than  before.  Ebroin  holds 
the  mayoralty  of  2seustria  with  an  unsteady  command ;  but 
in  Australia  the  progenitors  of  Pepin  Ilm-istal  grow  up  for 
two  generations  in  wealth  and  power,  till  he  becomes  the  ac- 
knowledged chief  of  that  part  of  the  kingdom,  bearing  the 
title  of  duke  instead  of  mayor,  and  by  the  battle  of  Testry 
puts  an  end  to  the  independence  of  Neustria. 

Vl.  From  this  time  the  family  of  Pepin  is  virtually  sover- 
eign in  France,  though  at  every  vacancy  kings  of  the  royal 
house  are  placed  by  them  on  the  throne.  Charles  Martel, 
indeed,  son  of  Pepin,  is  not  acknowledged,  even  in  Aus- 
trasia,  for  a  short  time  after  his  father's  death,  and  Neustria 
attempts  to  regain  her  indejiendence ;  but  he  is  soon  called 
to  power,  defeats,  like  his  lather,  the  western  Franks,  and  be- 
comes, in  almost  as  great  a  degree  as  his  grandson,  the  foun- 
der of  a  new  monarchy.  So  completely  is  he  recognized  as 
sovereign,  though  not  with  the  name  of  king,  that  he  divides 
France,  as  an  inheritance,  among  his  three  sons.  But  soon 
one  only,  Pepin  the  Short,  by  fortune  or  desert,  becomes 
possessor  of  this  goodly  bequest.  In  7")2  the  new  dynasty 
acquii-es  a  legal  name  by  the  coronation  of  Pepin. 

NOTK  IX.     Page  24 

The  true  cause,  M.  Michelet  observes  (Hist,  de  France, 
ii.  3'.l),  of  tlie  Saxon  wars,  which  had  begun  under  Charles 
Martel,  and  were  in  some  degree  defensive  on  the  part  of 
the  Franks,  was  the  ancient  antipathy  of  race,  eniiauced  by 
the  growing  tendency  to  civilized  habits  among  the  latter. 
This,  indeed,  seem-;  ^^f^l<•ient  to  account  for  the  conflict,  with- 
out any  national  antipathy.  It  was  that  whicli  makes  the 
Ked  Indian  perceive  an  enemy  in  the  Anglo-American,  and 
the  Au-tralian  savage  in  the  Englishman.  The  Saxons,  in 
their  deep  forests  and  scantily  eidtivated  plains,  could  not 
bear  fixed  boundaries  of  land.  T\u'\y  f/au  was  indefinite; 
the  mnnsiis  wjis  certain;  it  annihilated  the  l):irbai-iairs  only 
method   of  combining   liberty  with   po<se>sioii  of  land,  —  the. 


126  SUBJECTION  OF  THE  SAXONS.  Notes  to 

right  of  shifting  his  occupancy.^  It  is  not  j^robable,  from 
subsequent  events,  that  the  Saxons  held  very  tenaciously  by 
their  religion;  but  when  Christianity  first  offered  itself,  it 
came  in  the  train  of  a  conqueror.  Nor  could  Christianity, 
according  at  least  to  the  ecclesiastical  system,  be  made  com- 
patible with  such  a  state  of  society  as  the  German  in  that 
age.  Hence  the  Saxons  endeavored  to  burn  the  first 
churches,  thus  drawing  retaliation  on  their  own  idols. 

The  first  apostles  of  Germany  were  English ;  and  of  these 
the  most  remarkable  was  St.  Boniface.  But  this  had  been 
in  the  time  of  Charles  Martel  and  Pepin.  The  labors  of 
these  missionaries  were  chiefly  in  Thuringia,  Franconia,  and 
Bavaria,  and  were  rewarded  with  great  success.  But  we 
mav  here  consider  them  only  in  their  results  on  the  Frank 
monarchy.  Those  pai'ts  of  Germany  had  long  been  subject 
to  Austrasia,  but,  except  so  far  as  they  furnished  troops, 
scarcely  formed  an  integrant  portion  of  that  kingdom.  The 
subjection  of  a  heathen  tribe  is  totally  different  from  that  of 
a  Christian  province.  With  the  Church  came  churches,  and 
for  churches  there  must  be  towns,  and  for  towns  a  magistra- 
cy, and  for  magistracy  law  and  the  means  of  enforcmg  it. 
How  different  was  the  condition  of  Bavaria  or  Hesse  in  the 
ninth  century  from  that  of  the  same  countries  in  the  sev- 
enth !  Not  outlying  appendages  to  the  Austrasian  monarchy, 
hardly  counted  among  its  subjects,  but  capable  of  stand- 
ing by  themselves,  as  coordinate  members  of  the  empire, 
an  equipoise  to  France  herself,  full  of  populous  towns,  weal- 
thy nobles  and  prelates,  better  organized  and  more  flourish- 
ins:  states  than  their  neijjhbors  on  the  left  side  of  the  Rhine. 
Charlemagne  founded  eight  bishoprics  in  Saxony,  and  dis- 
tributed the  country  into  dioceses. 

Note  X.     Page  25. 

The  project  of  substituting  a  Frank  for  a  Byzantine  sov- 
ereign was  by  no  means  new  in  800.  Gregory  II.,  by  a  let- 
ter to  Charles  Martel  in  741,  had  offered  to  renounce  his 
allegiance  to  the  empire,  placing  Rome  under  the  protection 
of  the   French  chief,  with  the  title  of  consul  or  senator. 

1  Michelet  refers  to  Grimm,  who  is  ex-    the  age  of  Tacitus  loncjer  than  German 
collent  authorit}'.     The  Savons  are  likely     tribes  ou  the  Rhine  and  Main, 
to  liave  maintained  the  old  customs  of 


Chap.  i.  CHARLEMAGNE.  127 

Tlie  immediate  government  he  iloul)tlo>>;  nionnt  to  kco])  in 
the  hand?  of  the  Holy  See.  He  supplicattMl,  at  the  same 
time,  for  assistance  against  the  Lombards,  which  was  the 
principal  motive  for  this  offer.  Charles  received  the  pro- 
posal witli  j)lea-sure,  but  his  death  ensued  before  he  had  time 
to  take  any  steps  towards  fuHilHng  so  glorious  a  destiny. 
When  Charlemagne  acquired  the  rank  of  Patrician  at  Rome 
in  780.  we  may  consider  this  as  a  part  performance  of  Greg- 
orv  II.'s  engagement,  and  the  supreme  authority  was  vir- 
tually in  the  hands  of  the  king  of  the  Franks  :  but  the 
renunciation  of  allegiance  toward  the  Greek  empire  had  never 
positively  taken  place,  and  there  are  said  to  have  been  some 
tokens  of  recognition  of  its  nominal  sovereignty  almost  to 
the  end  of  the  century. 

It  is  contended  by  Sir  F.  Palgrave  that  Gfcarlemagne  was 
chosen  by  the  Romans  as  lawful  successor  of  Constantine 
v..  whona  his  mother  Irene  had  dethroned  in  795,  the  usage 
of  "the  empire  having  never  admitted  a  female  sovereign. 
And  for  this  he  quotes  two  ancient  clirouicles,  one  of  which, 
however,  appears  to  have  been  copied  from  the  other.  It  is 
indeed  true,  which  he  omits  to  mention,  that  Leo  III.  had  a 
singidar  scheme  of  a  mai-riage  between  Charles  and  Irene, 
which  would  for  a  time  have  united  the  empire.  The  pro- 
posal was  actually  made,  but  prudently  rejected  by  the 
Greek  lady. 

It  remains  nevertheless  to  be  sho^vn  by  w'hat  right  Leo 
III,,  cum  omni  Christiano  populo,  that  is,  the  priests  and 
populace  of  degenerate  Rome,  could  dispose  of  the  entire 
empire,  or  affect  to  place  a  stranger  on  tlie  throne  of  Con- 
stantinoj)le ;  for  if  Charles  were  the  successor  of  Constan- 
tine v.,  we  must  draw  this  conclusion.  Rome,  we  should 
keep  in  mind,  was  not  a  jot  more  invested  with  authority 
than  any  other  city ;  the  Greek  capital  liad  long  taken  her 
place ;  and  in  every  revolution  of  new  Rome,  the  decrepit 
mother  had  without  hesitation  obeyed.  Nor  does  it  seem  to 
me  exceedingly  material,  if  tiie  case  be  such,  tliat  Charle- 
magne was  not  styled  emperor  of  the  West,  or  successor 
of  Augu-itulus.  It  is  evident  that  his  einjiire,  relatively  to 
that  of  the  Greeks,  was  western;  and  we  do  not  lind  that 
either  he  or  his  family  ever  claimed  an  exclusive  right  to 
the  imperial  title.  The  ])retension  would  have  been  diamet- 
ri<ally  opposed  iioth  to  jjrescriptive  right  and  actual   posses- 


128  CHARLEMAGNE.  Notes  to 

sion.  He  wrote  to  the  emperor  Nicephorus,  successor  of 
Irene,  as  fraternitas  vestra ;  but  it  is  believed  that  the 
Greeks  never  recognized  the  title  of  a  western  barbarian. 
In  a  later  age,  indeed,  some  presumed  to  reckon  the  em- 
peror of  Constantinople  among  kings.  A  writer  of  the  four- 
teenth century  says,  in  French,  —  "  Or  devez  savoir  qu'il  ne 
doit  estre  sur  terre  qu'un  seul  empereur,  combien  que  celui 
de  Constantinople  estime  estre  seul  empereur ;  mais  non  est, 
il  n'est  fors  seulement  qu'un  roy."  (Ducange,  voc.  Impera- 
tor,  which  is  worth  consulting.)  The  kings  of  France  and 
Castile,  as  well  as  our  own  Anglo-Saxon  monarchs  in  the 
tenth  century,  and  even  those  of  Bulgaria,  sometimes  as- 
sumed the  imperial  title.  But  the  Anglo-Saxons  preferred 
that  of  Basileus,  which  was  also  a  Byzantine  appellation. 

The  probabl#  design  of  Charlemagne,  in  accepting  the 
title  of  emperor,  was  not  only  to  extend  his  power  as  far  as 
possible  in  Italy,  but  to  invest  it  with  a  sort  of  sacredness 
and  prescriptive  dignity  in  the  eyes  of  his  barbarian  subjects. 
These  had  been  accustomed  to  hear  of  emperors  as  some- 
thing superior  to  kings  ;  they  were  themselves  fond  of  pom- 
pous titles,  and  the  chancery  of  the  new  Augustus  soon 
borrowed  the  splendid  ceremonial  of  the  Byzantine  court. 
His  councillors  approached  him  on  their  knees,  and  kissed 
his  feet.  Yet  it  does  not  appear  from  history  that  his  own 
royal  power,  certainly  very  considerable  before,  was  much 
enhanced  after  it  became  imperial.  He  still  took  the  advice, 
and  legislated  with  the  consent,  of  his  leudes  and  bishops  ; 
in  fact,  he  continued  to  be  a  German,  not  a  Roman,  sover- 
eign. In  the  reign  of  his  family  this  prevalence  of  the 
Teutonic  element  in  the  Carlovingian  polity  became  more 
and  more  evident;  the  bishops  themselves,  barbarian  in 
origin  and  in  manners,  cannot  be  reckoned  in  the  opposite 
scale. 

This  was  a  second  failure  of  the  attempt,  or  at  least  the 
scheme,  of  governing  barbarians  upon  a  Roman  theory. 
The  first  had  been  tried  by  the  sons  of  Clovis,  and  the  high- 
spirited  Visigoth  Brunchaut.  But  the  associations  of  Roman 
authority  with  the  imperial  name  were  too  striking  to  be  lost 
forever;  they  revived  again  in  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth 
centuries  with  the  civil  law,  and  gamed  strength  with  the 
Ghibelin  fiction  in  Italy.  Even  in  France  and  England,  as 
many  think,  they  were  by  no  means  ineffectual;  though  it 


Chap.  I.  HERIDITARY  SUCCESSION.  1 29 

wiis  necessary  to  substitute  the  abstract  principle  of  royaltv 
for  the  Lex  Kegia  of  the  Roman  enii)ire. 

Note  XI.     Page  27. 

A  question  of  the  utmost  importance  had  been  passed 
over  in  the  eh'vation  of  Charlemagne  to  the  imperial  title. 
It  was  that  of  hereditary  succession.  No  allusion,  as  far  as 
I  have  found,  was  made  to  this  in  the  irregular  act  by  which 
the  pope,  with  what  he  called  the  Roman  peoi)le,  transferred 
their  allegiance  from  Constantinople  to  Aix-la-Chapelle.  It 
wjvs  indeed  certain  that  the  empire  had  not  only  passed  for 
liereditary  from  the  time  of  Augustus,  but  ever  since  that  of 
Diocletian  had  been  j)artil»le  among  the  imperial  family  at 
the  will  of  the  possessor.  Yet  the  whole  proceeding  was  so 
novel,  and  the  pretensions  of  the  Holy  See  implied  in  it  so 
indefinite,  that  some  might  doubt  whether  Charles  had 
acquired,  along  with  the  rank  t)f  iinperator,  its  ancient  pre- 
rogatives. There  was  also  a  momentous  consideration,  how 
far  his  Frank  subjects,  accustomed  latterly  to  be  consulted  on 
royal  succession,  with  their  rights  of  election,  within  the 
limits  of  the  family,  positively  recognized  at  the  accession  of 
Pepin,  and  liable  to  become  jealous  of  Roman  theories  of 
government,  would  acquiesce  in  a  simple  devolution  of  the 
title  on  the  eldest  born  as  his  legal  birthright.  In  the  tirst 
prospective  arrangement,  accordingly,  which  Charles  made 
for  the  succession,  that  at  Thionville,  in  806,  a  partition 
among  his  three  sons  wa:^  designed,  with  the  largest  share 
reserved  for  the  eldest.  But  though  Italy,  by  which  he 
meant,  as  he  tells  us,  Lombardy,  was  given  to  one  of  the 
younger,  care  is  taken  l)y  a  description  of  the  boundaries  to 
exclude  Rome  itself,  as  well  a«!  the  whole  exarchate  of 
Ravenna,  become,  by  Pepin's  donation,  the  patrimony  of  St. 
Peter;  nor  is  there  the  least  allusion  to  the  title  of  emperor. 
Are  we  to  believe  that  he  relin(iuished  the  eternal  city  to  its 
bishop,  though  styling  himsidf,  in  this  very  instrument, 
RoMiani  rector  imperii,  and  having  literally  gained  not  an- 
other inch  of  territory  by  that  diguitv?  It  is  surely  more 
proljable  that  lie  reserved  the  sovereignty  over  Rome,  to  l)e 
annexed  to  the  rank  of  emperor  whenever  he  should  obtain 
thai  for  hi-i  eldest  son.  And  on  the  death  (if  this  son,  and  of 
hi-  next  brother,  some  years  afterwards,  the  whole  succession 

VOL.  I.  9 


130  HEREDITARY  SUCCESSION.  Notes  to 

devolving  on  Louis  the  Debonair,  Cliarlemagne  presented 
this  prince  to  the  great  Placitum  of  the  nobles  and  bishops 
at  Aix-la-Chapelle  in  813,  requesting  them  to  name  him  king 
and  emperor.  No  reference  Avas  made  to  the  pope  for  his 
approbation ;  and  thus  the  German  principle  of  sovereignty- 
gained  a  decisive  victory  over  the  Roman.  If  some  claim 
of  the  pope  to  intermeddle  with  the  empire  was  intimated  at 
the  coronation  of  Louis  at  Rheims  by  Stephen  II.  in  81G, 
which  does  not  seem  certain,  it  could  only  have  been  througli 
the  pope's  knoAvledge  of  the  personal  submissiveness  to 
ecclesiastical  power  which  was  the  misfortune  of  that  prince. 
He  had  certainly  borne  the  imperial  title  from  his  father's 
death. 

In  the  division  projected  by  Louis  in  817,  to  take  place  on 
his  death,  and  approved  by  an  assembly  at  Aix,  a  considera- 
ble supremacy  was  reserved  for  the  future  emperor ;  he  was 
constituted,  in  effect,  a  sort  of  suzerain,  without  whose  con- 
sent the  younger  brothers  could  do  nothing  important.  Thus 
the  integrity  of  the  empire  was  maintained,  which  had  been 
lost  in  the  scheme  of  Charlemagne  in  80(3.  But  M.  Fauriel 
(vol.  iv.  p.  83)  reasonably  suspects  an  ecclesiastical  influence 
in  suggesting  this  measure  of  817,  which  Avas  an  overt  act 
of  the  Roman,  or  imperial,  against  the  barbarian  party.  If 
the  latter  consented  to  this  in  817,  it  was  probably  either 
because  they  did  not  understand  it,  or  because  they  trusted 
to  setting  it  aside.  And,  as  is  well  known,  the  course  of 
events  soon  did  this  for  them.  "  It  is  indisputable,"  says 
Ranke,  "  that  the  order  of  succession  to  the  throne,  which 
Louis  the  Pious,  in  utter  disregard  of  the  warnings  of  his 
faithful  adherents,  and  in  opposition  to  all  German  modes  of 
thinking,  established  in  the  year  817,  Avas  principally  brought 
about  by  the  influence  of  the  clergy."  (Hist,  of  Reforma- 
tion, Mrs.  Austin's  translation,  vol.  i.  p.  9.)  He  attributes 
the  concurrence  of  that  order,  in  the  subsequent  revolt 
against  Louis,  to  the  endeavors  he  had  made  to  deviate  from 
the  provisions  of  819  in  favor  of  his  youngest  son,  Charles 
the  13ald. 

Note  XIL     Page  31. 

The  second  period  of  Carlovingian  history,  or  that  which 
elapsed  Ironi  the  reign  of  Charles  tlie  Bald  to  the  accession 


Cii.vr.  I.  THE  CARI.UVIXGIAXS.  1  ;U 

of  Hugh  Capet,  must  be  reckoned  the  transitional  state, 
through  scenes  ot"  harharous  anarchy.  Cntui  the  artificial 
scheme  devised  by  Ciiarlemagne,  in  which  the  Roman  and 
German  elements  of  civil  policy  were  rather  in  contlict 
than  in  union,  to  a  new  state  of  society  —  the  feudal,  which, 
though  pregnant  itself  with  great  evil,  was  the  means  both 
of  preserving  the  frame  of  European  policy  from  disintegra- 
tion, and  of  elaborating  the  moral  and  constitutional  i)rinci- 
ples  upon  which  it  afterwards  rested. 

This  period  exhil»its,  upon  the  whole,  a  failure  of  the 
grand  endeavor  made  by  Charlemagne  for  the  regeneration 
of  his  empire.  This  proceeded  very  much  from  the  common 
chances  of  hereditary  succession,  especially  when  not  coun- 
terbalanced by  established  powers  independent  of  it.  Three 
of  his  name,  Charles  the  Bald,  the  Fat,  and  the  Simi)le,  had 
time  to  pull  down  what  the  great  legislator  and  con<iuernr 
had  erected.  Encouraged  by  their  pusillanimity  and  weak- 
ness, the  nol)ility  strove  to  revive  the  spirit  of  the  seventh 
centurv.  Thev  entered  into  a  coalition  with  the  l)ishi)i)s, 
though  Charles  the  Bald  had  often  sheltered  himself  liehind 
the  crosier;  and  they  compelled  his  son,  Louis  the  Stam- 
merer, not  only  to  confirm  their  own  privileges  and  those  of 
the  Church,  but  to  style  himself  "  King,  by  tlie  grace  of  God 
and  election  of  the  people ; "  which,  indeed,  according  to  the 
established  constitution,  was  no  more  than  truth,  since  the 
absolute  right  to  succession  was  only  in  the  family.  The  ina- 
bility of  the  crown  to  protect  its  subjects  from  their  invaders 
renilered  this  assumption  of  aristocratic  independence  abso- 
lutely necessary.  In  this  age  of  agony,  Sismondi  Avell  says, 
the  nation  began  to  revive  ;  new  social  bodies  s|)rung  from  the 
carcass  of  the  great  empire.  France,  so  defenceless  under 
the  Bald  and  the  Fat  Charleses,  bristled  with  castles  before 
930.  She  renewed  the  fable  of  Deucalion;  she  sowed  stones, 
and  armed  men  rose  out  of  them.  The  lords  surrounded 
themselves  with  vassals ;  and  had  not  the  Norman  incursions 
cea<e<l  before,  they  wordd  have  met  with  a  nmch  more  deter- 
mined resistance  tijan  in  the  preceding  century.  (Hist,  des 
Francais,  iii.  21H,  ;)78 ;  iv.  9.) 

Notwitii-itaniling  the  weakness  of  the  throne,  the  promise 
of  the  Franks  to  I'e|»in,  that  thev  would  never  elect  a  king 
out  of  anv  other  familv,  thoiiiiii  broken  on  two  or  three  occa- 
sions  in  tii<'   tenth  century,  seems  to  have  retaineil  its   liold 


132  TRANSITION  PERIOD  OF  Notes  to 

upon  the  nation,  so  that  an  hereditary  right  in  his  house  was 
felt  as  a  constitutional  sentiment,  until  experience  and  neces- 
sity overcame  it.  The  first  interruption  to  this  course  was 
at  the  election  of  Eudes,  on  the  death  of  Charles  the  Fat,  in 
888.  Charles  the  Simple,  son  of  Carloman,  a  prince  whose 
short  and  obscure  reign  over  France  had  ended  in  884, 
being  himself  the  only  surviving  branch,  in  a  legitimate  line, 
of  the  imperial  house  (for  the  frequent  deaths  of  those 
princes  without  male  issue  is  a  remarkable  and  important 
circumstance),  was  an  infant  of  three  years  old.  The  king- 
dom Avas  devastated  by  the  Normans,  whom  it  was  just 
beginning  to  resist  with  somewhat  more  energy  than  for  the 
last  half-century ;  and  Eudes,  a  man  of  considerable  vigor, 
possessed  several  counties  in  the  best  parts  of  France.  The 
nation  had  no  alternative  but  to  choose  him  for  their  king. 
Yet,  when  Charles  attained  the  age  of  fifteen,  a  iiumerous 
party  supported  his  claim  to  the  throne,  which  he  would 
probably  have  substantiated,  if  the  disparity  of  abilities  be- 
tween the  competitors  had  been  less  manifest.  Eudes,  at 
his  death,  is  said  to  have  recommended  Charles  to  his  own 
party ;  and  it  is  certain  that  he  succeeded  without  opposition. 
His  own  Aveak  character,  however,  exposing  him  to  fresh 
rebellion,  Robert,  brother  of  Eudes,  and  his  son-in-law  Ro- 
dolph,  became  kings  of  France,  that  is,  we  find  their  names  in 
the  royal  list,  and  a  part  of  the  kingdom  acknowledged  their 
sovereignty.  But  the  south  stood  oti  altogether,  and  Charles 
preserved  the  allegiance  of  the  north-eastern  provinces. 
Robert,  in  fact,  who  was  killed  one  year  after  his  partisans 
had  pi-oclaimed  him,  seems  to  have  no  great  pretensions,  de 
facto  any  more  than  de  jure,  to  be  reckoned  at  all ;  nor  does 
any  historian  give  the  appellation  of  Robert  II.  to  the  son 
of  Hugh  Capet.  The  father  of  Hugh  Capet,  Hugh  the 
Great,  son  of  Robert  and  nephew  of  Eudes,  being  count  of 
Paris  and  Orleans,  who  had  bestowed  the  crown  on  his 
brother-in-law  Rodolph  of  Burgundy,  instead  of  wearing  it 
himself,  paid  such  deference  to  the  prejudices  of  at  least  the 
majority  of  the  nation  in  favor  of  the  house  of  Charlemagne, 
that  he  procured  the  election  of  Louis  IV.,  son  of  Charles 
the  Simple,  a  boy  of  thirteen  years,  and  then  an  exile  in 
England ;  from  which  circumstance  he  has  borne  the  name 
of  Outremer.  And  though  he  did  not  reisn  without  some 
opposition  from  his  powerful  vassal,  he  died  in  possession  of 


Ch.vp.  I.  THE  CAItLOVINGIAXS.  133 

the  crown,  and  transmitted  it  to  be  -worn  bvhi?:  son  Lotliaire, 
and  his  <rrand-;on  Louis  V.  It  Avas  on  the  death  of  tliis  hist 
young  man  that  Hugh  Capet  thought  it  lime  to  set  a<i(h>  the 
rights  of  Charles,  the  hue  king's  uncle,  i\nd  call  liiuisclf 
king,  with  no  more  national  consent  than  the  ])nlal(<  and 
baruns  who  depended  on  him  might  atl'ord ;  principally,  it 
seems,  through  the  adherence  of  Adalberon,  archbishop  of 
Rludms,  a  city  in  which  the  kings  were  already  wont  to 
receive  the  crown.  .Such  is  the  national  importance  which 
a  merely  local  ])rivilege  may  sometimes  bestow.  Even  the 
voice  of  the  capital,  regular  or  tumultuous,  which  in  so  many 
revolutions  has  determined  the  ol)edience  of  a  nation,  mav 
be  considered  as  little  more  than  a  local  superiority. 

A  writer  distinguished  among  living  historians,  M.  Thi- 
erry, has  found  a  key  to  all  the  revolutions  of  two  centuries 
in  the  antipathy  of  the  Romans,  that  is,  the  ancient  inhab- 
itants, to  the  Franks  or  Germans.  The  latter  were  repre- 
sented by  the  house  of  Charlemagne  ;  the  former  by  that  of 
Robert  the  Brave,  through  its  valiant  descendants,  Eudes, 
Robert,  and  Hugh  the  Great.  And  this  theory  of  races,  to 
which  M.  Thierry  is  always  ]>artial,  and  recurs  on  many 
occasions,  has  seemed  to  the  judicious  and  impartial  Guizot 
the  most  satisfactory  of  all  that  have  been  devised  to  eluci- 
date the  Carlovingian  period,  though  he  does  not  embrace  it 
to  its  full  extent.  (Hist,  de  la  Civilisation  en  France,  Lecon 
24.)  Sismondi  (vol.  iii.  p.  08)  had  said  in  1821,  what  he 
had  probably  written  as  early  as  INI.  Thierry :  "  La  guerre 
entre  Charles  et  ses  deux  freres  fut  celle  des  penples  romains, 
des  Gaules  qui  rejetaient  le  joug  gernianique  ;  la  (pH-relle 
insignifiante  des  rois  fut  soutenue  avec  ardeur,  parce  ([u'elle 
s'unissait  a  la  querelle  des  peujjles ;  et  tous  ces  prejuges  hos- 
tiles  qui  s'attachent  toujours  aux  differences  des  langm^s  et 
des  UKcurs,  donnerent  de  la  Constance  et  de  raeharnenient 
aux  c<jmi)attans."  This  relates,  indeed,  to  an  earlier  period, 
but  still  to  the  same  conflict  of  races  which  M.  Tliienv  lia- 
taken  as  the  ba-is  of  the  resistance  made  by  the  Xeusliian 
provinces  to  the  later  Carlovingians.  Thierry  finds  a  similar 
contest  in  the  wars  of  Louis  the  Debonair.  Li  this  lie  i-j 
conqxdle*!  to  suppose  that  the  Ni'ustrian  Franks  fell  in  wiiii 
the  Gauls,  among  whom  they  lived.  But  it  may  well  b<' 
doubterl  whether  the  distinction  of  Frank  descent,  and  con- 
sequently of  national  supremacv,  was  ol)lilerateil  in  tlie  first 


134  TRANSITION  PERIOD  OF  Notes  to 

part  of  the  ninth  century.  The  name  of  Franci  was  always 
api)lied  to  the  whole  people;  the  kings  are  always  reges 
Francoriim ;  so  that  we  might  in  some  respects  rather  say 
that  the  Gauls  or  Eomans  had  been  merged  in  the  dominant 
races  than  the  reverse.  Wealth,  also,  and  especially  that 
springing  from  hereditary  benefices,  was  chiefly  in  the  hands 
of  the  barbarians ;  they  alone,  as  is  generally  believed,  so 
long  as  the  distinction  of  personal  law  subsisted,  were  sum- 
moned to  county  or  national  assemblies ;  they  perhaps  re- 
tained, in  the  reign  of  Louis  the  Debonair,  though  we  cannot 
speak  decisively  as  to  this,  their  original  language.  It  has 
been  observed  that  the  f;xmous  oath  in  the  Romance  language, 
pronounced  by  Louis  of  Germany  at  the  treaty  of  Strasburg, 
in  842,  and  addressed  to  the  army  of  his  brother  Charles  the 
Bald,  bears  more  traces  of  the  southern,  or  Provencal,  than 
of  the  northern  dialect ;  and  it  is  probable  that  the  inhabitants 
of  the  southern  provinces,  whatever  might  have  been  the 
origin  of  their  ancestors,  spoke  no  other.  This  would  not 
be  conclusive  as  to  the  Neustrian  Franks.  But  this  is  a 
disputable  question. 

A  remarkable  presumption  of  the  superiority  still  retained 
by  the  Franks  as  a  nation,  even  in  the  south  of  France,  may 
be  di-awn  from  the  Placitum,  at  Carcassonne,  in  918.  (Vais- 
sette.  Hist,  de  Languedoc,  vol.  ii.  Append,  p.  56  ;  Meyer,  In- 
stitutions Judiciaires,  vol.  i.  p.  419.)  In  this  we  fuid  named 
six  Roman,  four  Gothic,  and  eight  Salian  judges.  It  is  cer- 
tain that  these  judges  could  not  have  been  taken  relatively 
to  the  population  of  the  three  races  in  that  part  of  France. 
Does  it  not  seem  most  probable  that  the  Franks  were  still 
reckoned  the  predominant  people  ?  Probably,  however,  the 
personal  distinction,  founded  on  difference  of  laws,  expired 
earlier  in  Neustria ;  not  that  the  Franks  fell  mto  the  Roman 
jurisprudence,  but  that  the  original  natives  adopted  the  feu- 
dal customs. 

This  specious  theory  of  hostile  races,  in  order  to  account 
for  the  downfall  of  the  Carlovingian,  or  Austrasian,  d}masty, 
has  not  been  unanimously  received,  especially  in  the  extent 
to  which  Thierry  has  urged  it.  M.  Gaudet,  the  French 
editor  of  Richer  (a  contemporary  historian,  whose  narrative 
of  the  wliole  period,  from  the  accession  of  Eudes  to  the 
death  of  Ilugli  Capet,  is  published  by  Pertz  in  the  Monu- 
menta  Germaniai   llistorica,  vol.  iii.,  and  contains  a  great 


Chap.  I.  THE  CARLOVIXGIAXS.  135 

quantity  of  new  and  interesting  facts,  especially  from  a.i>. 
9i")t.>  to  'JS7),  a]>iti':ils  to  this  writer  in  contradiction  of  the 
hypothesis  of  31.  Thierry.  The  appeal,  however,  is  not  solely 
uj)on  his  authority,  since  the  leading  circumstances  were 
sufficiently  known  :  and,  to  say  the  truth.  I  think  that  more 
luL-i  licen  made  ot'  Kielier's  testimony  in  this  particular  view 
than  it  will  hear.  Kicher  belonged  to  a  monastery  at  Rheims, 
and  his  father  had  lieen  a  man  of  some  rank  in  the  confi- 
dence of  Louis  1\'.  and  Lothaire."  He  had,  therefore,  been 
nursed  in  respect  for  the  house  of  Charlemagne,  though,  with 
deference  to  his  editor,  I  do  not  perceive  that  he  displays  any 
repugnance  to  the  change  of  dynasty. 

Though  the  ditlercnces  of  origin  and  language,  so  far  as 
they  existed,  might  be  by  no  means  unimportant  in  the  gi-eat 
revolution  near  the  close  of  the  tenth  century,  they  caimot 
be  relied  ui)on  as  suthciently  explaining  its  cause.  Tlie  pai'- 
tisaiis  of  either  family  were  not  exclusively  of  one  blood. 
Tiie  liouse  of  Capet  itself  was  not  of  Roman,  but  probably 
of  Saxon  descent.  The  difference  of  races  had  been  much 
effaced  after  Charles  the  Bald,  but  it  is  to  be  remembered 
that  the  great  beneficiaries,  the  most  wealthy  and  potent 
famihes  in  Xeustria  or  France,  were  of  barbarian  origin. 
Oni'  people,  so  far  a.>  we  can  distinguish  them,  was  l)y  far 
the  more  numerous :  the  other,  of  more  influence  in  jwlitical 
afiairs.  The  personal  distinction  of  law,  however,  which  liad 
been  the  test  of  descent,  ajjpears  not  to  have  been  preserved 
in  the  nortli  of  France  nuu-h  after  the  ninth  century  ;  and 
tlie  Roman,  as  has  Ijcen  said  alxjve,  had  yielded  to  the  bar- 
baric eh-ment —  to  the  feudal  customs.  The  Romance  lan- 
guage, on  the  other  liaiid,  iiad  obtained  a  complete  ascenden- 
cy; and  that  not  only  in  Xeustria,  or  the  parts  west  of  the 
Sonnne,  but  thntngliout  Picardy,  Champagne,  and  part  of 
Fhinders.  But  if  we  were  to  supjjose  that  tliese  regions  were 
still  in  some  way  more  Teutonic  in  sentiment  than  Xeustria, 
we  certainly  could  not  say  the  same  of  those  beyond  the 
Loire.  A<niitaine  and  Languedoc.  almost  whollv  Roman,  to 
use  the  ancient  wonh  or  Frencli,a-;  they  niiglit  now  be  called, 
among  whose  vine-<-overed  hills  the  jjarbarians  of  the  Lower 
Hliine  had  hardly  fijrmed  a  perinam  lit  settlement,  or,  lia\iug 
done  XI,  had  early  cast  off  the  slough  of  their  rude  manners, 
had  been  the  scenes  of  a  long  resistance  to  the  3Ieroviugian 
dynjLsty.     The  tyranny  of  Chilileric  and   Clolaii-e,  llie   liar- 


136  TRANSITION  PERIOD  OF  Notes  to 

barism  of  tlie  Frank  invaders,  had  created  an  indelible 
hatred  of  their  yoke.  But  they  submitted  without  reluctance 
to  the  more  civilized  government  of  Charlemagne,  and  dis- 
played a  spontaneous  loyalty  towards  his  line.  Never  did 
they  recognize,  at  least  without  force,  the  Neustrian  usurpers 
of  the  tenth  century,  or  date  their  legal  instruments,  in  truth 
the  chief  sign  of  subjection  that  they  gave,  by  any  other 
year  than  that  of  the  Carlovingian  sovereign.  If  Charles 
the  Simple  reaj^ed  little  but  this  nominal  allegiance  from  his 
southern  subjects,  he  had  the  satisfaction  to  reflect  that  they 
owned  no  one  else. 

But  a  rapacious  aristocracy  had  pressed  so  hard  on  the 
weakness  of  Charles  the  Bald  and  his  descendants  that,  the 
kingdom  being  wholly  parcelled  in  great  fiefs,  they  had  not 
the  resources  left  to  reward  self-interested  services  as  before, 
nor  to  I'esist  a  vassal  far  superior  to  themselves.  Laon  was 
much  behind  Paris  in  Avealth  and  populousness,  and  yet  even 
the  two  capitals  were  inadec^uate  representatives  of  the  pro- 
portionate strength  of  the  king  and  the  count.  Power,  as 
simply  taken,  was  wholly  on  one  side ;  yet  on  the  other  was 
prejudice,  or  rather  an  absti'act  sense  of  hereditary  right ; 
and  this  sometimes  became  a  source  of  jiower.  But  the  long 
greatness  of  one  family,  its  manifest  influence  over  the  suc- 
cession to  the  throne,  the  conspicuous  men  whom  it  produced 
in  Eudes  and  Hugh  the  Great,  had  silently  prepared  the 
way  for  a  revolution,  neither  unnatural  nor  premature,  nor  in 
any  way  dangerous  to  the  public  interests.  It  is  certainly 
probable  that  the  Neustrian  French  had  come  to  feel  a 
greater  sympathy  with  the  house  of  Capet  than  with  a  line 
of  kings  who  rarely  visited  their  country,  and  whom  they 
could  not  but  contemplate  as  in  some  adverse  relation  to  their 
natural  and  popular  chiefs.  But  the  national  voice  was  not 
greatly  consulted  in  those  ages.  It  is  remarkable  that  sev- 
eral writers  of  the  nineteenth  century,  however  they  may 
sometimes  place  the  true  condition  of  the  people  in  a  vivid 
light,  are  constantly  relapsing  into  a  democratic  theory. 
They  do  not  by  any  means  underrate  the  oppressed  and 
almost  servile  condition  of  the  peasantry  and  burgesses,  when 
it  is  their  aim  to  draw  a  picture  of  society;  yet  in  reasoning 
on  a  political  revolution,  such  as  the  decline  and  fall  of  the 
German  dynasty,  they  ascribe  to  these  degraded  classes  both 
the  will  and  the  power  to  effect  it.     The  proud  nationality 


Cn.AJ-.  I.  THE  CARLOVIXGIAXS.  1.17 

which  spurned  a  foreign  line  of  princes  could  not  be  felt  by 
an  inipoverishod  and  atilicted  connnonalty.  Yet  when  '^L 
Thierry  alludes  to  the  rumor  that  the  I'auiily  of  Capet  \va> 
sprung  from  the  commons  (some  said,  as  we  read  in  Dante, 
from  a  butcher),  he  adds,  —  "  Cette  opinion,  qui  se  conserva 
durant  phisieurs  siecles,  ne  fut  pivs  nuisible  a  sa  cause,"  —  as 
if  there  had  been  a.^  etiective  a  tiers-etat  in  987  as  800  yeai-s 
afterwards.  If,  however,  we  are  meant  only  to  seek  this 
sentiment  anjong  the  nobles  of  France,  I  fear  that  self- 
interest,  personal  attachments,  and  a  predominant  desire  of 
maintaining  their  independence  against  the  crown,  were 
motives  far  more  in  operation  than  the  wish  to  hear  the  king 
speak  French  instead  of  Cierman. 

It  seems,  upon  the  whole,  that  M.  Thierry's  hypothesis, 
countenanced  as  it  is  ])y  ]\I.  Guizot.  will  not  afford  a  com- 
plete explanation  of  the  history  of  France  between  Charles 
the  Fat  and  Hugh  Capet.  The  truth  is,  that  the  accidents  of 
personal  character  have  more  to  do  with  the  revolutions  of 
nations  than  either  pliilosophical  historians  or  democratic 
politicians  like  to  admit.  If  Eudes  and  Hugh  the  Great 
had  been  born  in  the  royal  line,  they  would  have  preserved 
far  l>etter  the  royal  jwwer.  If  Charles  the  Simple  had  not 
raised  too  high  a  fovorite  of  mean  extraction,  he  might  have 
retained  the  nobles  of  Lorraine  and  Champagne  in  their 
fidelity.  If  Adali)eron,  archbishop  of  Rheims,  had  been 
loyal  to  the  house  of  Chai-lemagne,  that  of  Capet  would  not, 
at  least  so  soon,  have  ascended  the  throne.  If  Louis  V.  had 
lived  some  years,  and  left  a  son  to  inherit  the  lineal  right, 
the  more  precarious  claim  of  his  uncle  would  not  have 
undergone  a  disadvantageous  competition  with  tliat  of  a  vig- 
orous usurper.  M.  Gaudet  has  well  shown,  in  his  notice  on 
Richer,  that  the  opposition  of  Adcdberon  to  Charles  of  Lor- 
raine wa-J  whollv  on  personal  grounds.  No  hint  is  given  of 
any  national  hostility  ;  l)Ut  whatever  of  national  approbation 
was  trivon  to  llie  new  familv,  and  doubtless  in  Neustrian 
FraiK-e  it  was  vi-rv  prevalent,  nuist  ratlier  be  ascribed  to 
their  own  re|iiitation  llian  to  any  ]ieculiar  antipathy  towards 
tlieir  conip«'titor.  Hugh  Capet,  it  is  reconh'd,  never  wore 
tlie  en>wn.  though  styling  hiins<df  king,  and  took  care  to 
jjHM'un',  in  an  jtHsendjly  li<dd  in  Paris,  the  election  of  his 
w»n  Roltert  to  succeed  him ;  an  example  which  was  followed 
for  several  reigns. 


138  THE  NOEMANS.  Notes  to 

A  late  Belgian  writer,  M.  Gerard,  in  a  spirited  little  work, 
'  La  Bai-barie  Franque  et  la  Civilisation  Romaine '  (Brux- 
elles,  1845),  admitting  the  theory  of  the  conflict  of  races, 
indignantly  repels  the  partisans  of  what  has  been  called  the 
Roman  element.  Thierry,  Michelet,  and  even  G-uizot, 
are  classed  by  him  as  advocates  of  a  corrupted  race  of 
degenerate  provincials,  who  called  themselves  Romans, 
endeavoring  to  set  up  their  pretended  civilization  against  the 
free  and  generous  spirit  of  the  barbarians  from  jvliom  Europe 
has  derived  her  proudest  inheritance.  Avoidmg  the  aristo- 
cratic arrogance  of  Boulainvilliers,  and  laughing  justly  at  the 
pretensions  of  motlern  French  nobles,  if  any  such  there  are, 
which  I  disbelieve,  who  vaunt  their  descent  as  an  order  from 
the  race  of  Franks,  he  bestows  his  admiration  on  the  old 
Austrasian  portion  of  the  monarchy,  to  which,  as  a  Belgian, 
he  belongs.  But  in  his  persuasion  that  the  two  races  Avere 
in  distinct  opposition  to  each  other,  and  have  continued  so 
ever  since,  he  hardly  falls  short  of  Michelet. 

I  will  just  add  to  this  long  note  a  caution  to  the  reader, 
that  it  relates  only  to  the  second  period  of  the  Carlovingian 
kinofs,  that  from  888  to  987.  In  the  reigns  of  Louis  the 
Del)onair  and  Charles  the  Bald  I  do  not  deny  that  the  desire 
for  the  separation  of  the  empire  was  felt  on  both  sides.  But 
this  separation  was  consummated  at  Verdun  in  843,  except 
that,  the  kingdom  of  Lorraine  being  not  long  afterwards  dis- 
membered, a  small  portion  of  the  modern  Belgium  fell  into 
that  of  France. 

Note  XIIL     Page  35. 

The  cowardice  of  the  French,  during  the  Noniian  incur- 
sions of  the  ninth  century,  has  struck  both  ancient  and 
modern  writers,  considering  that  the  invaders  were  by  no 
means  numerous,  and  not  better  armed  than  the  inhabitants. 
No  one,  says  Paschasius  Radbert,  could  have  anticipated 
that  a  kingdom  so  powerful,  extensive,  and  populous,  would 
have  been  ravaged  by  a  handful  of  barbarians.  (Mem.  de 
TAcad.  des  Inscr.  vol.  xv.  p.  639.)  Two  hundred  Normans 
entered  Paris,  in  805,  to  take  away  some  wine,  and  retired 
unmolested ;  their  usual  armies  seem  to  have  been  only  of  a 
few  hundreds.  (Sismondi,  vol.  iii.  p.  170.)  Michelet  even 
fancies  that  the  French  could  not  have  fought  so  obstinately 


Chai-.  [.  THE  NORiLVXS.  IGi) 

at  Fuuteiiay  as  historians  relate,  on  account  of  the  effeminacy 
which  ecck'siaj^tical  iiiHnence  had  produced.  This  is  rather 
au  oxtravag;mt  sui>i)osition.  But  panic  is  very  contagious, 
and  sometimes  falls  on  nations  by  no  means  deficient  in  gen- 
eral coura'^e.  It  is  to  he  remcmltered  that  the  cities,  even 
Paris,  were  not  fortilicd  (Mem.  de  I'Acad.  vol.  xvii.  p.  2<S'J)  ; 
that  the  government  of  Charles  the  Bald  was  imbecile ;  that 
no  effort^  were  made  to  array  and  discii)line  the  people  ;  that 
the  feuthil  polity  was  as  yet  incomplete  and  unorganized. 
Ciui  it  be  an  excessive  reproach,  that  the  citizens  lied  from 
their  dwellings,  or  redeenied  them  by  money  from  a  terrible 
foe  against  whom  their  mere  superiority  of  numbers  furnished 
no  security  ?  Every  instance  of  barbarous  devastation 
aggravated  the  general  timidity.  Aciuitaine  w'as  in  such  a 
state  that  the  pope  removed  the  archbishop  of  Bordeaux  to 
Bourges,  because  his  province  was  eulirely  wasted  by  the 
pagims.  (Sismondi,  vol.  iii.  p.  210.)  Never  was  France  in 
so  dejjlorable  a  condition  as  under  Charles  the  Bald  ;  the 
laitv  seem  to  have  deserted  the  national  assemblies ;  almost 
all  his  ca[)itularies  are  ecclesiastical ;  he  was  the  mere  ser- 
vant of  his  bishops.  The  clergy  were  now  at  their  zenith ; 
and  it  has  Ijeen  suppo-ed  that,  noble  families  becommg 
extinct  (for  few  names  of  laymen  api)ear  at  this  time  in  his- 
tory), the  Church,  which  always  gained  and  never  lost,  took 
the  ascendant  in  national  councils.  And  this  contributed  to 
render  the  nation  less  warlike,  by  depriving  it  of  its  natui-al 
leaders.  It  might  be  added,  according  to  Sismondi's  very 
probable  suggestion,  that  the  iiiith  in  relics,  encouraged 
bv  tiie  Church,  lowered  the  spirit  of  the  people.  (Vol.  iii. 
passim;  ^iichelet,  vol.  ii.  p.  120,  et  post.)  And  it  is  a 
quality  of  superstition  not  to  be  undeceived  by  experience. 
Some  have  attriltuted  tln^  weakness  of  France  at  this  period 
to  the  bloody  battle  of  Foiitenay,  in  811.  But  if  we  should 
sup|)Ose  the  loss  of  the  kingdom  on  that  day  to  have  been 
fortv  thou-and,  which  is  a  high  reckoning,  this  would  not 
explain  the  want  of  resistance  to  the  Xormans  for  half  a 
century. 

Tin;  beneticial  effect  of  the  cession  of  Normandy  has  hard- 
ly lieiMi  put  by  me  in  sullicic^ntly  strong  terms.  Nj  measure 
wa>  so  conducive'  to  the  revi\al  of  France  irom  hi-r  abase- 
ni<rit  ill  tbe  uiiitli  (-(Mitury.  Tin-  Normans  had  been  dis- 
linguisheil  l)y  a  peculiar  ferocity  toward-^  priests ;  yet   when 


140  THE  NORMANS.  Notes  to 

tlieir  conversion  to  Christianity  was  made  the  condition  of 
their  possessing  Normandy,  tliey  were  ready  enougli  to  com- 
ply, and  in  anotlier  generation  became  among  the  most 
devout  of  the  French  nation.  It  may  be  observed  that  pagan 
superstitions,  thougli  tliey  often  take  great  liold  on  the  imag- 
ination, seldom  influence  the  conscience  or  sense  of  duty ; 
they  are  not  definite  or  moral  enough  for  such  an  effect, 
which  belongs  to  positive  religions,  even  when  false.  And  as 
their  efficacy  over  the  imagination  itself  is  generally  a  good 
deal  dependent  on  local  associations,  it  is  likely  to  be  weak- 
ened by  a  change  of  abode.  But  a  more  certain  explana- 
tion of  the  new  zeal  for  Christianity  which  spi'ung  up  among 
the  Normans  may  be  found  in  the  important  circumstance, 
that,  having  few  women  with  them,  they  took  wives  (they 
had  made  widows  enough)  from  the  native  inhabitants. 
These  taught  their  own  faith  to  their  children.  They  taught 
also  their  own  language ;  and  in  no  other  manner  can  we  so 
well  account  for  the  rapid  extinction  of  that  of  Scandinavia 
in  that  province  of  France. 

Sismondi  discovers  two  causes  for  the  determination  of  the 
Normans  to  settle  peaceably  in  the  territory  assigned  to 
them ;  the  devastation  which  they  had  made  along  the  coast, 
rendering  it  difficult  to  procure  subsistence  ;  and  the  growing 
spirit  of  resistance  in  the  French  nobility,  who  were  fortify- 
ing their  castles  and  training  their  vassals  on  every  side. 
But  we  need  not  travel  far  for  an  inducement  to  occupy  the 
fine  lands  on  the  Seine  and  Eure.  Piracy  and  plunder  had 
become  their  resource,  because  they  could  no  longer  find  sub- 
sistence at  home ;  they  now  found  it  abundantly  in  a  more 
genial  climate.  They  would  probably  have  accepted  the 
same  terms  fifty  years  before. 

Note  XIV.     Page  36. 

This  has  been  put  in  the  strongest  language  by  Sismondi, 
Thierry,  and  other  writers.  Guizot,  however,  thinks  that  it 
has  been  urged  too  far,  and  that  the  first  four  Capetians  were 
not  quite  so  insignificant  in  their  kingdom  as  has  been 
asserted.  "  When  we  look  closely  at  the  documents  and 
events  of  their  age,  we  see  that  they  have  played  a  more 
important  part,  and  exerted  more  influence,  than  is  ascribed 
to  them.     Read  their  history ;  you  will  see  them  interfere 


Chap.  I.  THE    CAPETS.  141 

inces-;antlv.  whcthiT  Itv  arms  or  l)v  ncirotiatioii.  in  the  affairs 
of  the  county  of  Burgundy,  of  the  county  of  Anjou.  of  the 
county  of  Maine,  of  tiae  duchy  of  Guienne  :  in  a  word,  in 
the  affairs  of  all  their  neijrhhors,  and  even  of  very  distaiu 
fiefs.  Xo  other  suzerain  certainly,  except  the  dukes  of  Nor- 
mandv.  wiio  conciuered  a  kingdom,  took  a  part  at  that  time 
so  freiiuently,  and  at  so  great  a  distance  from  the  centre  of 
his  domains.  Turn  over  the  letters  of  contemporaries,  for 
example  those  of  FuUiert  and  of  Yves,  bishops  of  Chartrt's, 
or  those  of  William  III.  duke  of  Guienne.  and  many  others, 
you  will  see  that  the  king  of  France  was  not  without 
imi)ortance.  and  that  the  most  powerful  suzerains  treated  him 
with  great  deference."  He  a])])eals  especially  to  the  extant 
act  of  the  consecration  of  Philip  I.,  in  10,30.  where  a  duke 
of  Guienne  is  mentioned  among  tlie  great  fendataries,  and 
asks  whether  any  other  suzerain  look  possession  of  his  rank 
with  so  much  solemnity.  (Civilisation  en  France,  Le9on  42.) 
"As  there  was  always  a  country  callecl  France  and  a  French 
people,  so  there  was  always  a  king  of  the  French;  very  far 
indeed  from  ruling  the  country  called  his  kingdom,  and  with- 
out iutlnence  on  the  greater  part  of  the  population,  hut  yet  no 
foreigner,  and  with  his  name  inscribed  at  the  head  of  the 
deeds  of  all  the  local  sovereigns,  as  one  who  was  their 
superior,  and  to  wlioni  they  owed  several  duties."  (Lecon 
4y.)  It  may  be  observed  also  that  the  Church  r<H'ognized 
no  other  sovereign  ;  not  that  all  the  bishops  held  of  him, 
for  many  depended  on  the  great  fiefs,  but  the  ceremony  of 
consecration  gave  him  a  sort  of  ndigious  character,  to  which 
no  one  else  aspired.  And  Suger,  tiie  ])olitic  minister  of  Louis 
VI.  and  Louis  VII.,  made  use  of  the  bishops  to  maintain  the 
royal  authority  in  <listant  provinces.  (Le^on  42.)  This 
neverthel<is>  ratln-r  proves  tliat  the  germ  of  future  power 
wa^  in  the  kinglv  ollicc  than  that  Hugh,  ivolx-rl,  lIi'iUT,  and 
Philip  exercised  it.  The  most  remarkable  instance  of 
authoritv  durin'j  lln-ir  reigns  was  the  war  of  Robert  in  Bur- 
ginidv,  which  endeti  in  his  bestowing  that  great  lief  on  his 
brother.  I  have  observe<l  that  the  duke  of  Guienne  sub- 
.scribes  a  charter  of  Henry  I.  in  10.")  1.  (Rec.  des  Ilistorieiis, 
vol.  xi.  p.  r»HlK)  Pr(tbal)ly  there  are  other  instances.  Henry 
u<er.  a  m(»re  pompous  ami  sovereign  phra-eoiogy  in  hi> 
fliploina-!  than  his  father;  the  young  lion  was  trying  his 
roar. 


142  THE  KNIGHTS   TEMPLAES.  Xotes   to 

I  concur  on  the  whole  in  thinking  with  M.  Guizot,  that  in 
shunning  the  hxnguage  of  uninformed  historians,  Avho  spoke 
of  all  kings  of  France  as  equally  supreme,  it  had  become 
usual  to  depreciate  the  power  of  the  first  Capetians  rather 
too  much.  He  had,  however,  to  appearance,  done  the  same 
a  few  years  before  the  delivery  of  these  lectures,  in  1829 ; 
for  in  his  Collection  of  Memoirs  (vol.  i.  p.  6,  published  in 
1825),  he  speaks  rather  differently  of  the  first  four  reigns  :  — 
"  C'est  I'epoque  ou  le  royaume  de  France  et  la  nation  frau- 
^aise  n'ont  existe,  a  vrai  dire,  que  de  nom."  He  observes, 
also,  that  the  chroniclers  of  the  royal  domain  are  peculiarly 
meagre,  as  compared  with  those  of  Noi'mandy. 

Note  XV.     Page  56. 

It  may  excite  surprise  that  in  any  sketch,  however  slight, 
of  the  reign  of  Philip  IV.,  no  mention  should  be  made  of  an 
event,  than  which  none  in  his  life  is  more  celebrated  —  the 
fate  of  the  Knights  Templars.  But  the  truth  is,  that  when 
I  first  attended  to  the  subject,  almost  forty  years  since,  I 
could  not  satisfy  my  mind  on  the  disputed  problem  as  to  the 
guilt  imputed  to  that  order,  and  suppressed  a  note  which  I 
had  written,  as  too  inconclusive  to  afford  any  satisfactory  deci- 
sion. Much  has  been  published  since  on  the  Continent,  and 
the  question  has  assumed  a  different  aspect ;  though,  perhaps, 
I  am  not  yet  more  prepared  to  give  an  absolutely  determi- 
nate judgment  than  at  first. 

The  general  current  of  popular  writers  in  the  eighteenth 
century  was  in  favor  of  the  innocence  of  the  Templars ;  in 
England  it  would  have  been  almost  paradoxical  to  doubt  of 
it.  The  rapacious  and  unprincipled  character  of  Philip,  the 
submission  of  Clement  V.  to  his  will,  the  apparent  incredi- 
bility of  the  charges  from  their  monstrousness,  the  just  prej- 
udice against  confessions  obtained  by  torture  and  retracted 
afterwards  —  the  other  prejudice,  not  always  so  just,  but  in 
the  case  of  those  not  convicted  on  fair  evidence  deserving  a 
better  name  in  favor  of  assertions  of  innocence  made  on  the 
scaffold  and  at  the  stake  —  created,  as  they  still  preserve,  a 
strong  willingness  to  disbelieve  the  accusations  which  came 
so  suspiciously  before  us.  It  was  also  often  alleged  that  con- 
temporary writers  had  not  given  credit  to  these  accusations, 
and  that  in  countries  where  the  inquiry  had  been  less  iniq- 


Chap.  I.  THE  KNIGHTS  TEMPLARS.  143 

uitously  coiKluotod  no  proof  of  tlit'iu  was  brought  to  light. 
Of  these  two  grouiuls  for  ufquittal,  the  former  is  of  little 
value  in  a  question  of  legal  evidence,  and  the  latter  is  not 
quite  so  fully  estalilished  as  we  could  desire. 

Ravnouard,  who  might  think  himself  pledged  to  the  vin- 
dieation  of  the  Knights  Templars  by  the  tragedy  he  had 
written  on  their  fate,  or  at  least  would  naturally  have  thus 
imbibed  an  attaehment  to  their  cause,  took  u[)  their  defence 
in  a  History  of  the  Procedure.  This  has  been  reckoned  the 
best  work  on  that  side,  and  was  supposed  to  confirm  their 
inuDcenee.  The  question  appears  to  have  assumed  some- 
thing of  a  party  character  in  France,  as  most  history  does ; 
the  honor  of  the  crown,  and  still  more  of  the  church,  had 
ailvocates  ;  but  there  was  a  nnu-li  greater  number,  especially 
among  men  of  letters,  who  did  nt)t  like  a  decision  the  worse 
lor  Ijeing  derogatory  to  the  credit  of  both.  Sismondi,  it  may 
easily  be  supposed,  scarcely  treats  it  as  a  question  with  two 
sides ;  but  even  ^Michaud.  the  firm  supporter  of  church  and 
crown,  in  his  History  of  the  Crusades,  takes  the  favorable 
view.  M.  Michelet,  however,  not  under  any  bias  towards 
either  of  these,  and  manifestly  so  desirous  to  acquit  the 
Templars  that  lie  labors  by  every  ingenious  device  to  elude 
or  ex|)lain  away  the  evidence,  is  so  overcome  by  the  force 
and  number  of  testimonies,  that  he  ends  by  admitting  so 
much  as  leaves  little  worth  contending  for  by  their  patrons. 
He  is  the  editor  of  the  "  Proces  des  Templiers,"  in  the  "  Doc- 
umens  Inedits,  1841,"  and  had  previously  given  abundant  evi- 
dence of  his  acquaintance  with  the  subject  in  his  "  Histoire  de 
France,"  vol.  iv.  p.  24.;,  o4.j.      (Bruxelles  edition.) 

But  the  great  change  that  has  been  made  in  this  process, 
a.s  carried  forward  before  the  tril)unal  (tf  public  opinion  from 
age  to  age,  is  owing  to  the  production  of  fresh  evidence. 
The  deeplv-learned  orientalist,  M.  von  Hammer,  now  count 
Hammer  Purg<tall,  in  the  sixth  volume  of  a  work  published  at 
Vienna  in  IHIH.  with  the  title  "Mines  de  I'Orient  exploitees,"  ^ 
inserted  an  essay  in  Latin,  *' Mysterium  Uaphometis  Kevela- 
tum,  seu  Fratres  Militiaj  Templi  qua  Gnostici  et  (piidem 
Ojihiani.  Apo-tasia',  Idoloduliie,  et  Impuritatis  coiivicti  jier 
i|»>a  eorum  .Monumeiita."  This  is  designed  to  establish  the 
ith-ntity  of  the  iilolatry  jiscribed  to  the  Templars  with  that  of 

I  I  ]i\re  thin  French  title,  but  there  In    memoirs  are  either  la  that  liintjuago  or 
bUo  a  Ovnuan  title-pago,  as  most  of  the     ia  Latla. 


144  THE  KNIGHTS   TEMPLARS.  Xotes  to 

the  ancient  Gnostic  sects,  and  especially  with  those  denomi- 
nated Ophites,  or  worshippers  of  tlie  serpent ;  and  to  prove 
also  that  the  extreme  im})urity  which  forms  one  of  the  revolt- 
ing and  hardly  ci^edible  charges  adduced  by  Philip  IV.  is 
similar  in  all  its  details  to  the  practice  of  the  Gnostics. 

This  attack  is  not  conducted  with  all  the  coolness  which 
bespeaks  impartiality ;  but  the  evidence  is  startling  enough 
to  make  refutation  apparently  difficult.  The  first  part  of  the 
proof,  which  consists  in  identifying  certain  Gnostic  idols,  or, 
as  some  suppose,  amulets,  though  it  comes  much  to  the  same, 
with  the  description  of  what  are  called  Baphometic,  in  the 
proceedings  against  the  Templars,  published  by  Dupuy,  and 
since  in  the  "  Documens  Inedits,"  is  of  itself  sufficient  to  raise 
a  considerable  presumption.  We  find  the  word  7netis  con- 
tinually on  these  images,  of  which  Von  Hammer  is  able  to 
describe  twenty-four.  Baphomet  is  a  secret  word  ascribed 
to  the  Templars.  But  the  more  important  evidence  is  that 
furnished  by  the  comj^arison  of  sculptures  extant  on  some 
Gnostic  and  Ophitic  bowls  with  those  in  churches  built  by 
the  Templars.  Of  these  there  are  many  in  Germany,  and 
some  in  France.  Von  Hammer  has  examined  several  in  the 
Austrian  dominions,  and  collected  accounts  of  others.  It  is 
a  striking  fiict  that  in  some  we  find,  concealed  from  the  com- 
mon observer,  images  and  symbols  extremely  obscene ;  and 
as  these,  which  cannot  here  be  more  particularly  adverted  to, 
betray  the  depravity  of  the  architects,  and  cannot  be  explained 
away,  we  may  not  so  much  hesitate  as  at  first  to  believe  that 
impiety  of  a  strange  kind  was  mingled  up  with  this  turpi- 
tude. The  presumptions,  of  course,  from  the  absolute  iden- 
tity of  many  emblems  in  churches  with  the  Gnostic  supersti- 
tions in  their  worst  form,  grow  stronger  and  stronger  by 
multiplication  of  instances ;  and  though  coincidence  might  be 
credible  in  one,  it  becomes  infinitely  improbable  in  so  many. 
One  may  here  be  mentioned,  though  among  the  slightest 
resemblances.  The  Gnostic  emblems  exhibit  a  peculiar  form 
of  cross,  T ;  and  this  is  common  in  the  churches  built  by  the 
Templars.  But  the  freemasons,  or  that  society  of  architects 
to  whom  we  owe  so  many  splendid  churches,  do  not  escape 
M.  von  Hammer's  ill  opinion  better  than  the  Templars. 
Though  he  conceives  them  to  be  of  earlier  origin,  they  had 
drunk  at  the  same  foul  spring  of  impious  and  impure  Gnos- 
ticism.    It  is  rather  amusing  to  compare  the  sympathy  of 


Cn.vp.  I.  THE  KNIGHTS  TEMPLARS.  145 

our  own  modern  eoi-lc«;ioloji:i>t>  witli  tlioso  who  raised  the 
mediiLval  cathedraK  tlieir  implicit  euiitidence  in  the  piety 
whieli  ennobled  the  conceptions  of  these  architects,  with  the 
Ibllowin^x  i^assajje  in  a  memoir  bv  ]M.  von  Hammer.  "  Snr 
deux  Cotlrets  Gnostiques  du  moven  Age,  du  cabinet  de  M. 
le  due  de   Blaeas.     Paris,  1S32!" 

"  Les  architectes  du  moyen  age,  initios  dans  tous  les  my- 
steres  du  Gnosticisme  le  plus  deprave,  se  plaisaient  a  en  mul- 
tiplier les  symboles  an  dehors  et  au  dedans  de  leurs  eglises  ; 
symboles  dont  le  veritable  sens  n'etait  entendu  que  des  adeptes, 
et  devaient  rester  voiles  aux  yeux  des  profanes.  Des  ligiu'es 
seandaleu^es,  sembhibles  a  celles  des  eglises  de  Montmorillon 
et  de  Bordeaux,  se  retrouvent  sur  les  eglises  des  Templiers 
a  Eger  en  Bohenie,  ii  Sehongrabern  en  Autriche,  a  Fornuovi 
pres  de  Parme.  et  en  d'autres  lieux;  nommement  le  chien 
(canis  aut  gattus  niger)  sur  les  bas-reliefs  de  I'eglise  gnostique 
d'Erfurt."  (p.  !».)  The  Sta<linghi,  heretics  of  the  thirteenth 
century,  are  charged,  in  a  bull  of  (Jn-gory  IX.,  with  exactly 
the  same  profaueness,  even  including  the  black  cat,  as  the 
Templars  of  the  next  century.  This  is  said  by  von  Hammer 
to  be  contirmed  by  sculptures,     (p.  7.) 

The  statutes  of  the  Knights  Templars  were  compiled  in 
112s,  and,  as  it  is  said,  by  St.  Bernard.  They  have  been 
]>ubiished  in  1840  from  manuscripts  at  Dijon,  Rome,  and 
Paris,  bv  M.  ^Maillard  de  Chambure,  Conservateur  des  Ar- 
chives de  Bouriro^rne. 

The  title  runs  —  "  Regies  et  Statuts  secrets  des  Templiers." 
But  as  the  French  seems  not  so  ancient  as  the  above  date, 
they  may,  perluqis,  be  a  translation.  It  will  be  easily  sup- 
jio^ed  that  they  contain  nothing  l)ut  what  is  pious  and  austere. 
Tlie  knights,  however,  in  their  intercourse  with  the  P^ast, 
fell  rapiiUv  into  disere(lit  for  loose  morals  and  many  vices  ; 
so  that  Von  ilamin<'r  ratlier  invidioii.-ly  liegins  his  altaek 
upon  them  by  arguing  the  a  priori  probability  of  what  he  is 
altout  t<j  allege.  Some  have  acconlingly  endeavored  to  steer 
a  middle  c(^urse  ;  ami,  discrediting  the  charges  brought  gener- 
ally airainst  the  order,  have  admitted  that  both  the  vice  and 
the  irreligion  were  truly  attributed  to  a  great  numl)er.  lUit 
ihi-  is  iKjt  at  all  the  (piestion  ;  and  such  a  pretended  compro- 
mi-e  i-  nothing  les-  tlian  an  ac(juittal.  The  whole  accusa- 
tion' which  destroyed  the  order  of  the  Tem|>le  relate  tn  it- 
fecret  rites,  and  to  the  mode  of  initiation.      H'  tlie-e  were  not 

VOL.   I.  10 


146  JOAN  OF  ARC.  Notes  to 

stained  by  the  most  infamous  turpitude,  the  unhappy  knights 
perished  innocently,  and  the  guih  of  tlieir  deatli  lies  at  the 
door  of  Philip  the  Fair. 

The  novel  evidence  furnished  by  sculpture  against  the 
Templars  has  not  been  universally  received.  It  was  early 
refuted,  or  attempted  to  be  refuted,  by  Raynouard  and  other 
French  writers.  "  II  est  reconnu  aujourd'hui,  meme  en  Alle- 
magne,"  says  M.  Chambnre,  editor  of  the  Regies  et  Statuts 
secrets  des  Templiers,  "  que  le  j)retendu  culte  baphometique 
n'est  qu'une  chimere  de  ce  savant,  fondee  sur  un  erreur  de 
numismatique  et  d'architectonographie."  (p.  82.)  As  I  am 
not  competent  to  form  a  decisive  opinion,  I  must  leave  this 
for  the  more  deeply  learned.  The  proofs  of  M.  von  Ham- 
mer are  at  least  very  striking,  and  it  is  not  easy  to  see  how 
they  have  been  overcome.  But  it  is  also  necessary  to  read 
the  answer  of  Raynouard  in  the  "  Journal  des  Savans  "  for 
1819,  who  has  been  partially  successful  in  repelling  some  of 
his  opponent's  arguments,  though  it  appeared  to  me  that  he 
had  left  much  untouched.  It  seems  that  the  architectural 
evidence  is  the  most  positive,  and  can  only  be  resisted  by 
disproving  its  existence,  or  its  connection  with  the  Free- 
masons and  Templars.   [1848.] 

Note  XVI.     Page  88. 

I  have  followed  the  common  practice  of  translating  Jeanne 
d'Arc  by  Joan  of  Arc.  It  has  been  taken  for  granted  that 
Arc  is  the  name  of  her  birthplace.     Southey  says, — 

"  She  thought  of  Arc,  and  of  the  dingled  brook 
Whose  waves,  oft  leaping  in  their  craggy  course, 
Made  dance  the  low-hung  willow's  dripping  twigs  ; 
And,  where  it  spread  into  a  glassy  lake, 
Of  that  old  oak,  whicli  on  the  smooth  expanse 
Imaged  its  hoary  mossy-mantled  boughs." 

And  in  another  place,  — 

'  her  mind's  eye 


Beheld  Domr^my  and  the  plains  of  Arc." 

It  does  not  appear,  however,  that  any  such  place  as  Arc 
exists  in  that  neigliborhood,  though  there  is  a  town  of  that 
name  at  a  considerable  distance.  Joan  was,  as  is  known,  a 
native  of  the  village  of  Domremy  in  Lorrame.  The  French 
writers  all  call  her  Jeanne  d'Arc,  with  the  exception  of  one, 


Chap.  I.  JOAN  OF  ARC.  147 

M.  Michelet  (vii.  02),  who  spoils  her  name  Daiv.  Avliiih  in  a 
person  ot"  her  birth  seems  more  i>robalile,  tliough  1  eannot 
account  for  the  uniform  usage  of  an  apostrophe  and  capital 
letter. 

I  cannot  jiass  Southey's  "Joan  of  Arc"  without  remlering 
homage  to  that  early  monument  of  his  genius,  Avliieh,  per- 
haps, he  rarely  surpiv<sed.  It  is  a  noble  epic,  never  languid, 
and  seldom  diffuse  :  full  of  generous  enthusiasm,  of  magnifi- 
cent inventions,  and  witli  a  well-eonstrm'ted  fable,  or  rather 
selection  of  history.  Michelet.  who  thinks  the  story  of  the 
Maid  unfit  for  jjoetry,  had  a]iparently  never  read  Southey ; 
but  the  author  of  an  article  in  tl.e  "  Biographic  Universelle  " 
says  very  well,  — "  Le  poeme  de  M.  Southey  en  Anglais, 
intitule  'Joan  of  Arc,'  est  la  tentative  la  plus  heureuse  que 
les  Muses  aient  faites  jusqn'ici  pour  celebrer  I'heroine  d'Or- 
leans.  C'est  encore  une  des  singularites  de  son  histoire  de 
voir  le  genie  de  la  poesie  Anglaise  inspirer  de  beaux  vers  en 
sou  honneur,  tanilis  (jue  e(dui  de  la  jioesie  Francaise  a  et^ 
jusqn'ici  rel>elle  h  ceux  qui  out  voulu  la  chanter,  et  n'a 
favorise  que  celui  qui  a  outrage  sa  memoire."  If,  however, 
the  nuise  of  France  has  done  litth^  justicv  to  her  memory,  it 
h;is  l)een  reserved  for  another  Maitl  of  Orleans,  as  she  has 
well  been  styled,  in  a  ditierent  art,  to  fix  the  image  of  the 
first  in  our  minds,  and  to  combine,  in  forms  only  less  en- 
during than  those  of  ])oetry,  the  purity  and  inspiration  witli 
the  unswerving  heroism  of  the  immortal  Joan. 


148  STATE  OF  ANCIENT  GERMANY.    Chap.  II.  Pakt  1. 


CHAPTER   11. 

ON  THE  FEUDAL  SYSTEM,  ESPECIALLY  IX  FRANCE. 


PART  I. 


State  of  Ancient  Germany —  Effects  of  the  Conquest  of  Gaul  by  the  Franks  — Ten- 
ures of  Land  —  Distinction  of  Laws  —  Constitution  of  the  ancient  Frank  Monar- 
chy —  Gradual  Establishment  of  Feudal  Tenures  —  Principles  of  a  Feudal 
Relation  —  Ceremonies  of  Homage  and  investiture  —  Military  Service  —  Feudal 
Incidents  of  Kelief,  Aid,  AYardship,  &c. —Different  species  of  Fiefs  — Feudal 
Law-Books. 

Germany,  in  the  age  of  Tacitus,  was  divided  among  a 
number  of  independent  tribes,  differing  greatly  in 

Political  ,      .  -,   {  ^  rrii     •  ^ 

state  of         population  and  importance,     i  lieir  country,  over- 
aucieut  spread   with   forests   and    morasses,    afforded   no 

Germany.  l  .  ,iittvttii 

large  proportion  oi  arable  land.  JNor  did  they 
ever  occupy  the  same  land  two  years  in  succession,  if  what 
Caesar  tells  us  may  be  believed,  that  fresh  allotments  were 
annually  made  by  the  magistrates.-^  But  this  could  not  have 
been  an  absolute  abandonment  of  land  once  cultivated,  which 
Horace  ascribes  to  the  migratory  Scythians.  The  Germans 
had  fixed  though  not  contiguous  dwellings ;  and  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  (/mi  or  township  must  have  continued  to  till  the 
same  fields,  though  it  might  be  with  varying  rights  of  sepa- 
rate property.^  They  had  kings  elected  out  of  particular 
families ;  and  other  chiefs,  both  for  war  and  administration  of 
justice,  whom  merit  alone  recommended  to  the  public  choice. 
But  the  power  of  each  was  greatly  limited ;  and  the  deci- 
sion of  all  leading  questions,  though  subject  to  the  previous 

1  Magistratus  ac  principes  in  annos  non  student,  nee  quisquam  agri  modum 
singulos  gentibus  cognationibusque  ho-  certum  aut  fines  proprios  habet.  De 
minum.  qui  una  coierunt,  quantum  lis,  Bello  Gallico,  1.  vi.  These  expressions 
et  quo  loco  visum  est,  attribuunt  agri,  at-  may  be  taken  so  as  not  to  contradict 
que  anno  post  alio  transirecogunt.  Cae-  Tacitus.  But  Luden,  who  had  exam- 
sar,  1.  vi.  Tacitus  confirms  this  :  Arva  ined  the  ancient  history  of  his  coun- 
per  annos  mutant.  De  Mor.  Germ.  c.  try  with  the  most  persevering  diligence, 
26.  observes  that  Csesar  knew  nothing  of  the 

2  Caesar  has  not  written,  probably,  Germans,  except  what  he  had  collected 
with  accurate  knowledge,  when  he  says,  concerning  the  Suevi  or  the  Marcomanni. 
Vita  omnis  in  venatiouibus  et  studiis  rei  Geschichte  der  Deutschen  Volker,  I.  481- 
militaris  consistit Agriculturae 


Feudal  System.    PAUTITIOX  OF  CONQUERED  LANDS.  II 'J 

delibi-nition  ot"  the  cliieftaiiis,  sprung  tVom  the  free  voice  of  a 
popuhir  a><eiul>ly.^  The  principal  men,  however,  of  a  Ger- 
iu:ui  tribe  fully  partook  of  that  estiiutitiou  which  is  always 
the  reward  of  valor  and  coniiuonly  of  birth.  They  were 
surrounded  by  a  cluster  of  youths,  the  most  gallant  and  am- 
bitious of  the  nation,  their  pride  at  home,  their  protection  in 
the  tield  ;  whose  ambition  was  flattered,  or  gratitude  eonciUa- 
ted,  by  such  presents  as  a  leader  of  barbarians  could  confer. 
These  were  the  institutions  of  the  people  who  overthrew  the 
empire  of  Rome,  congenial  to  the  spirit  of  infant  societies, 
and  such  as  travellers  have  found  among  nations  in  the  same 
stage  of  manners  throughout  the  world.  And  although,  in 
the  lapse  of  four  centuries  between  the  ages  of  Tacitus  and 
Clovis,  some  change  was  wrought  by  long  intercoui'se  with 
the  Romans,  yet  tlie  foundations  of  tlieir  political  system 
were  unshaken.  If  the  Salic  laws  were  in  tiie  main  drawn 
up  before  the  occupation  of  Gaul  by  the  Franks,  as  seems 
the  better  opinion,  it  is  manifest  that  lands  were  held  by  them 
in  determinate  several  possession ;  and  in  other  respects  it  is 
impossilde  that  the  manners  described  by  Tacitus  should  not 
have  undergone  some  alteration."^ 

When  these  triljcs  from   G<'rmany  and   the  neighboring- 
countries  poured  down  njjon  the  empire,  and  began  partitiou 
to  form  i)ermanent  .settlements,  they  made  a  par-  of  lanas  in 
tition   or    the  lands    ni    the  conquered    provinces  provinces, 
between  themselves    and  the    original  possessors. 
The  Burixundians  and  Visigoths  took  two  thirds  of  their  re- 
spective  conquests,  leaving  the  remainder  to  the  Roman  pro- 
prie'tor.     Each   Burgundian  was  quartered,  under  the  gentle 
name  of  guest,  upon  om.'  of  the  former  tenants,  whose  reluc- 
tant hospit.ility   contined  him  to  the   smaller  portion  of  his 
estate.'     The  Vandals  in  Africa,  a  more  furious  race  of  plun- 
derers, seized  all  the  best  lands.*     Tiie   Lombards  of  Italy 

*  Dc  minoribiH  rebus  principes  consul-  tratcs  this  use  of  tlio  word  Imspes.    It 

tant,  ill!  iiiujoribun  ouiiii-.-i;  it.'i  C;inien,  ut  wiis  (tivcn  to  tlio  military  quarfcri'il   up- 

en '|Uo.|ui'.  (juciruui   pcnc-H  pichc-in  nrbi-  on  tlie  inlmbitJiiits  ;iny«here  in  tho  em- 

triuni  ej<t,  ttpud  princi|>«.')t  p'rirnr.ientur.  pire.  iind  thus  transferred  by  iiniilii;;y  to 

Tut.  lie  Mor.  <ienu.  c.  x\.     AriduliuK  nnd  the  barbiiriiin  oconpants.     It  was  need- 

OrotiiisronU-nd  for /T'^/raz-rz-n/i/r:  which  lens.   1   nliould  think,  for   liini  to   prove 

would  l»e  neatvr,  but  the  same  HcnM- up-  thut  these  lu'qni.sitions.   "  belter  consld- 

[M-iirii   to  be   ronreyed   by   the   common  ered  im  ullodiiil  laws,"  did  not  contain  tlio 

reading.  K'T'n  of  feudality.     "  There  is  no  (i<<//iic 

-  ^■■"   \  '  feuilality  unless  the  parties  bo  eoniie<-t<><l 

•tind.  P.  W.  ijT).     Sir  F.  Pal-  by    the   mutual    liond    of  v:i.ssiila)fi'    and 

irri                .     "IucihI  a  piuwa(;u  from  thu  »ei({niory.''     Kiig- <'"inii'onw.  i.  WKJ. 

The<j'io«iau  coije,   rll.  8,  6,   which  Uluii-  *  I'rocopluH  du  bcllo  Vanilal.  I.  i.  c.  5. 


150 


ALODIAL  AND  SALIC  LANDS.     Chap.  II.  Part  I. 


took  a  tliird  part  of  the  produce.  "We  cannot  discover  any 
mention  of  a  similar  arrangement  in  tlie  laws  or  history  of 
the  Franks.  It  is,  however,  clear  that  they  occupied,  by 
public  allotment  or  individual  pillage,  a  great  portion  of  the 
lands  of  France.-^ 

The  estates  possessed  by  the  Franks  as  their  property 
Alodial  and  Were  termed  alodial;  a  word  which  is  sometimes 
Salic  lands,  i-estrictcd  to  such  as  had  descended  by  inheritance.^ 
These  were  subject  to  no  burden  except  that  of  public  defence. 
They  passed  to  all  the  children  equally,  or,  in  their  failure, 
to  the  nearest  kindred.^  But  of  these  alodial  possessions 
there  was  a  particular  species,  denominated  Salic,  from  which 
females  Avere  expressly  excluded.  What  these  lands  were, 
and  what  was  the  cause  of  the  exclusion,  has  been  much 
disputed.  No  solution  seems  more  pi-obable  than  that  the 
ancient  lawgivers  of  the  Salian  Franks  prohibited  females 
from  inheriting  the  lands  assigned  to  the  nation  upon  its 
conquest  of  Gaul,  both  in  compliance  with  their  ancient 
usages,  and  in  order  to  secure  the  military  service  of  every 
proprietor.     But  lands  subsequently  acquired  by  purchase  or 


1  [Note  II.] 

2  Alodial  lands  are  commonly  opposed 
to  lieueficiary  or  feudal ;  the  former  being 
strictly  proprietary,  while  the  latter  de- 
pended upon  a  superior.  In  this  sense 
the  word  is  of  continual  recurrence  in 
ancient  histories,  laws,  and  instruments. 
It  sometimes,  however,  bears  the  sense 
of  inheritance,  and  this  seems  to  be  its 
meaning  iu  tlie  famous  62nd  chapter  of 
the  Salic  law ;  de  Alodis.  Alodium  in- 
terdum  opponitur  comparato,  says  Du 
Cange,  in  formulis  reteribus.  Hence, 
in  tile  charters  of  the  eleventh  century, 
hereditary  fiefs  are  frequently  termed 
alodia.  Ifecueil  des  Historiens  de  France, 
t.  xi.  preface.  Vaissette,  llist.  de  Lan- 
guedoc,  t.  ii.  p.  109. 

Alodium  has  by  many  been  derived 
from  All  and  ocrt,  property.  (Bu  Cange, 
etalii.)  Hut  M.  (iuizot,  with  some  posi- 
tivcness,  brings  it  from  loos,  lot ;  thus 
confining  the  word  to  lands  acquired  by 
lot  on  tlie  conquest.  But  in  the  first 
place  tliis  assumes  a  regular  partition  to 
have  been  made  by  the  Franks,  wliich 
he,  in  another  place,  as  has  been  .seen, 
does  not  acknowledge  ;  and  secondly. 
Alodium,  or,  in  its  earlier  form,  Aloi/is, 
is  used  for  all  hereditary  lands.  (See 
Grimm,  Deutsche  Kechts  Alterthuiiier, 
p.  492.)  In  the  Orkneys,  where  feudal 
tenures  were  not  introduced,  the  .alodial 
proprietor  is  called  au  udaller,  thus  lend- 


ing probability  to  the  former  derivation 
of  alod ;  since  it  is  only  an  inversion  of 
the  words  all  and  odk  ;  but  it  seems  also 
to  corroborate  the  notion  of  Luden,  as  it 
had  been  of  Leibnitz,  that  the  word  adel 
or  ethel,  applied  to  designate  the  nobler 
class  of  Germans,  had  originally  the  same 
sense ;  it  distinguished  absolute  or  alo- 
dial property  from  that  which,  though 
belonging  to  freemen,  was  subject  to 
some  conditions  of  dependency.  (Gesch. 
des  Deutsclien  Volkes,  vol.  i.  p.  719.) 

The  word  sors,  which  seems  to  have 
misled  several  writers,  when  applied  to 
laud  means  only  an  integral  patrimony, 
as  it  means  capital  opposed  to  interest 
when  applied  to  money.  It  is  common 
in  the  civil  law,  and  is  no  more  than  the 
Greek  /c/l^pof ;  but  it  had  been  peculiarly 
applied  to  the  lands  assigned  by  the 
Romans  to  the  soldiery  after  a  conquest, 
which  some  suppose,  I  know  not  on 
what  evidence,  to  have  been  by  lot. 
(Du  Cange,  voc.  Sors.)  And  hence  this 
term  was  most  probably  adopted  hy  the 
barbarians,  or  rather  those  who  rendered 
their  laws  into  Latin.  If  the  Teutonic 
■word  loos  was  sometimes  used  for  a 
mansiis  or  manor,  as  JI.  Guizot  informs 
us,  it  seems  most  probable  that  this  was 
a  literal  translation  of  sors,  bearing  with 
it  the  secondary  sense. 

3  Leg.  Salicie,  c.  62. 


Feupal  System.       ALODLU.  AXD  SALIC  LANDS. 


l.')! 


other  means,  tliough  equally  bound  to  the  iniblic  (lefence, 
were  relieved  troni  the  severity  ot"  this  rule,  and  pre^mned 
not  to  belong  to  the  class  of  Salie.^  Hence,  m  the  Kipuary 
law,  the  code  ot"  a  tribe  of  Franks  settled  upon  the  l)anks  of 
the  Rhine,  and  dithering  rather  in  words  than  in  substance 
from  tlie  Salie  law,  wliieh  it  serves  to  illustrate,  it  is  said  that 
a  woman  eannut  inherit  her  grandfatlier's  estate  (luvreditas 
aviatica),  di>tiiiguisliing  such  finuily  projierty  from  what  the 
father  might  have  actpiired."  And  Marculfus  uses  expressions 
to  the  same  etiect.  There  existed,  however,  a  right  of  setting 
aside  the  law,  and  admitting  females  to  succession  by  testa- 
ment. It  is  rather  probable,  from  some  ]iassages  in  the 
Burgundian  code,  that  even  the  lands  of  partition  (sortes 
Burgundionum)  were  not  restricted  to  male  heirs.^     And  the 


1  By  the  (ieruian  customs,  women, 
though  trv.-itcJ  with  much  respect  and 
delicacy,  were  not  endowed  nt  their 
marriage.  Uoteui  uoii  uxor  miirito,  sed 
maritus  uxori  confert.  Tacitus,  c.  18. 
A  similar  principle  might  debar  them  of 
inheritance  in  fixed  (lOssessions.  Certjiin 
it  is  that  ttie  exclusion  of  females  was 
not  uufrenuent  among  the  Teutonic 
nations.  We  find  it  in  the  laws  of  the 
Thuringian.s  and  of  the  Saxou.s  ;  both 
ancient  codes,  though  not  free  from  in- 
terpolation. Ix'ibnitz,  Scriptores  Kerum 
Brunswicen^ium,  t.  i.  p.  Hi  and  83. 
But  this  usage  was  repugnant  to  the 
principles  of  Koman  law,  which  the 
Franks  found  |jrevailing  in  their  new 
country,  and  to  the  natunil  feeling  which 
lead.s  a  man  to  pn-fer  his  own  descend- 
ants to  collateral  heirs.  One  of  the  pre- 
cedents in  Marcnlfus(l.  ii.  form.  12)  calls 
the  exclusion  of  females,  diuturna  et 
impia  consuetmio.  In  another  a  father 
addrc.«.se3  his  daughter  :  Omnibus  non 
hatietur  incogiiitum,  rjuod,  sicut  lex 
Salica  contiiiet,  de  n-bus  uieis,  yi((«/  mihi 
ex  alaile  yarmtuin  meorum  ohrrnil,  apud 
gennanos  tuog  filios  meos  miniuie  in  hic- 
reditate  succedere  poteras.  Formula; 
Slarculfo  ndjectje,  49.  These  precedent* 
are  supiK^fscvl  to  have  l>eeii  compiled  about 
the  latter  end  of  the  seventh  century. 

The  opinion  expressed  in  the  t*xt.  that 
the  ttrra  S'llirn.  which  females  could  ni)t 
inherit,  was  the  land  acquired  by  the 
barbarians  on  their  first  comjuest,  is  con- 
finned  by  .>>ismondi  (i.  l'J<i)  and  by  <iui- 
zot  (  KkmiIs  sur  I'llist.  lie  France,  p.  94). 
M.  «iui.nird.  Imwever,  tin-  learned  eilitor 
of'  ilary  ofCliiirtres  (l)<M-umen8 

III'  .    p.  '22j,   Is  persuadi-d    that 

Sun.  1 ,11  I  ...in  that  of  the  diiuutin,  from 
mtii,  the  hall  ur  principal  residence,  as 


opposed  to  the  portion  of  the  estate 
which  wa.s  occupied  by  tenants,  benefici- 
ary or  servile.  'J'his,  he  .s.ays,  he  has 
proved  in  another  work,  which  I  have 
not  seen.  Till  I  have  done  so,  much 
doubt  remains  to  me  as  to  this  explana- 
tion. Montesquieu  had  already  started 
the  same  theory,  which  Ouizot  justly,  as 
it  si"ems,  calls  '•  incomplete  et  liypothe- 
tique."  Besides  other  objections,  it 
seems  not  to  explain  the  manifest  iden- 
tity between  the  terra  Salirn  and  the 
liareditns  iii-iiitira  of  the  Ripuiirian  law, 
or  the  aloilis  imrentitiii  of  Marcnif'us.  I 
ought,  however,  to  mention  a  remark  of 
Urinim,  that,  throughout  the  Frank 
donnuation,  tJennan  countries  made  use 
of  the  words  trrra  Snlica.  In  them  it 
cinilil  not  mean  lanils  of  partition  or 
assignment,  but  mere  aloilia.  And  he 
thinks  that  it  may,  in  most  cases,  be  in- 
t«'rpreted  of  the  ttrra  ilominicdiis.  (Deut- 
sche Keclits  .\lterthiinier,  p.  493.) 

M.  Fauriel  mainUiins  (Hist,  de  la  Gaule 
Meridion.  ii.  18)  that  the  Salic  lands 
were  beneficiary,  as  opposed  to  the  alo- 
dial. But  the  •■  ha'reditiLs  aviatica"'  is 
repugnant  to  this.  Mavculfus  distinctly 
opposes  aloilia  to  rmyijjarala,  and  limits 
the  exclusion  of  daughters  to  the  former 
According  to  one  of  the  most  recent  in- 
quirers, ••  terra  S.ilica  "'  was  all  the  land 
held  by  a  Salian  Frank  (lA'hui'rou,  i.  80). 
But  the  .same  cilijictions  apply  to  this  so- 
lution :  in  addition  to  which  it  may  be 
saiil  that  the  whole  .Salic  law  relates  to 
that  people,  while  •'  terra  Salica  "  Is 
plainly  descriptive  of  a  peculiar  charac- 
ter "f  lands. 

a  ('.  &<). 

3  I  had  in  former  editions  asserted  the 
contrary  of  this,  on  the  authority  of  Ia-jj. 
ilurgutid.  c.  7tS,  which  seemed   to  Uiiilt 


152 


EOMAX  NATIVES  OF  GAUL.    Chap.  II.  Part  I. 


Visigoths  admitted  women  on  equal  terms  to  the  whole 
inheritance.-^ 

A  conti'oversy  has  been  maintained  in  France  as  to  the 
P  condition  of  the  Romans,  or  rather  the  provincial 

natives  of  inhabitants  of  Gaul,  after  the  invasion  of  Clovis. 
Gaul.  -gjjj^  neitlier  those  who  have  considered  the  Franks 

as  barbarian  conquerors,  enslaving  the  former  possessors,  nor 
the  Aljbe  Dubos,  in  whose  theory  they  appear  as  allies  and 
friendly  inmates,  are  warranted  by  liistorical  facts,  though 
more  approximation  to  the  truth  may  be  found  in  the  latter 
hypothesis.  On  the  one  hand,  we  find  the  Romans  not  only 
possessed  of  property,  and  governed  by  their  own  laws,  but 
admitted  to  the  royal  favor  and  the  highest  offices ;  ^  while  the 
bishops  and  clergy,  who  were  generally  of  that  nation,^  grew 
up  continually  in  popular  estimation,  in  riches,  and  in  temporal 
sway.     Yet  it  is  undeniable  that  a  marked  line  was  drawn 


the  sxiccessiou  of  estates,  called  sortes,  to 
male  heirs.  But  the  expressions  are  too 
obscure  to  warrant  this  inference ;  aud 
M.  Guizot  (Essais  sur  I'Hist.  de  France, 
vol.  i.  p.  95)  refers  to  the  14th  chapter 
of  the  same  code  for  the  opposite  propo- 
sition. But  this,  too,  is  not  absolutely 
clear,  as  a  general  rule. 

1  [XOTE  III.] 

-  Daniel  conjectures  tliat  Clotaire  I. 
■was  the  first  who  athnitted  Romans  into 
the  army,  which  had  previously  beau 
composed  of  Franks.  From  this  time  we 
find  many  in  high  military  command. 
(Hist,  de  ia  Milice  Fraucoise,  t.  i.  p.  11.) 
It  seems  by  a  passage  in  Gregory  of 
Tours,  quoted  by  Dabos  (  t.  iii.  p. 
547),  that  some  Romans  affected  the  bar- 
barian chai'actcr  by  letting  their  hair 
grow.  If  this  were  generally  permitted, 
it  would  be  a  stronger  evidence  of  ap- 
proximation between  the  two  races  than 
any  that  Dubos  lias  adduced.  Montes- 
quieu certainly  takes  it  for  granted  tliat 
a  Roman  might  change  his  law,  and  thus 
become  to  all  material  intents  a  Frank. 
(Esprit  des  Loix,  1.  x.xviii.  c.  4.)  But  the 
passage  on  which  he  relies  is  read  differ- 
ently in  the  manuscripts.     [Note  IV.] 

2  The  barbarians  by  degrees,  got  hold 
of  bishoprics.  In  a  list  of  thirty-four 
bishops  or  priests,  present  at  a  council 
in  506,  says  M.  Fauriel  (iii.  459),  the 
names  are  all  Roman  or  Greek.  This 
■was  at  Agde,  in  the  dominion  of  the  Vis- 
igoths. In  511  a  council  at  Orleans  ex- 
hibits one  German  name.  But  at  the 
fifth  council  of  Paris,  in  577,  where  for- 
ty-five bishops  attended,  the  Romans  are 
indeed  much  the  more  numerous,  but 


mingled  with  barbaric  names,  six  of 
whom  M.  Thierry  mentions.  (Recits  des 
Temps  Merovingiens,  vol.  ii.  p.  183.)  In 
585,  at  Macon,  out  of  sixty-three  names 
but  six  are  German.  Fauriel  asserts 
that,  in  a  diploma  of  Clovis  II.  dated 
653,  there  are  but  five  Roman  names  out 
of  forty-five  witnesses  ;  aud  hence  he  in- 
fers that,  by  this  time,  the  Franks  had 
seized  on  the  Church  as  their  spoil,  fill- 
ing it  with  barbarian  prelates.  But  on 
reference  to  Rec.  des  Hist.  (iv.  636),  I 
find  but  four  of  the  witnesses  to  this  in- 
strument qualified  as  episcopus :  and  of 
these  two  have  Roman  names.  The  ma- 
jority may  have  been  laymen  for  anj"  ev- 
idence wliich  the  diploma  presents.  In 
one,  however,  of  Clovis  III.,  dated  693 
lid.  p.  672),  I  find,  among  twelve  bishops, 
only  three  names  which  appear  Roman. 
We  cannot  always  judge  by  the  modern- 
ization of  a  proper  name.  St.  Leger 
sounds  well  enough ;  but  in  his  Life  we 
find  a  "  Beatus  Leodegarius  ex  progenio 
celsa  Francorum  ac  nobilissima  exortus." 
Greek  names  are  exceedingly  common 
among  the  bishops ;  but  these  cannot 
mislead  an  attentive  reader. 

This  inroad  of  Franks  into  the  Church 
probably  accelerated  the  utter  prostration 
of  intellectual  power,  at  least  in  its  liter- 
ary manifestation,  which  throws  so  dark 
a  shade  over  the  seventh  century.  And 
it  still  more  unquestionably  tended  to 
the  secular,  the  irregular,  tlie  warlike 
character  of  the  higher  clergy  in  France 
and  Germany  for  many  following  centu- 
ries. Some  of  these  bishops,  according 
to  Gregory  of  Tours,  were  profligate  bar- 
barians. 


Feudal  System. 


DISTINCTION  OF  LAWS. 


l.-);3 


at  the  outset  between  the  conqueror*  and  the  oon((ut'reil. 
Though  one  class  ot"  Romans  retained  estates  of  their  own, 
jet  there  was  another,  cjilled  tril)utary,  who  seem  to  have 
cultivated  those  of  tlie  Franks,  and  were  scarcely  raised  aliove 
the  condition  of  predial  servitude.  But  no  distinction  can  be 
more  uneijuivocal  than  that  which  was  established  between 
the  two  nations,  in  the  iceregild,  or  composition  for  homicide. 
Cai>it:d  punishment  for  nnu'der  wa.s  contrary  to  tli<'  spirit 
of  the  Franks,  who,  like  most  barbarous  nations,  would  have 
thought  the  loss  of  one  citizen  ill  I'epaired  by  that  of  another. 
The  weregild  was  paid  to  the  relations  of  the  slain,  according 
to  a  legal  rate.  This  was  Hxed  by  the  Salic  law  at  six 
hundred  solidi  for  an  Antrustion  of  the  king ;  at  three  hun- 
dred tor  a  Roman  conviva  regis  (meaning  a  man  of  sufficient 
rank  to  be  admitted  to  the  roval  table)  ;^  at  two  hundred  tor 
a  common  Frank ;  at  one  hundred  tor  a  Roman  possessor 
of  lands  ;  and  at  forty-tive  for  a  triljutary,  or  cultivator  of 
another's  property.  In  Burguiidv.  wiicre  religion  and  length 
of  settlement  had  introduced  ditfcrent  ideas,  murder  was 
punished  with  death.  But  other  jiersonal  injuries  were 
comi)ensated,  as  among  the  Franks,  by  a  fine,  graduated 
according  to  the  rank  and  nation  of  the  aggrieved  party.'^ 

The  barbarous  comjuerors  of  Gaul  and  Italy  Avere  guided 
l)y  notions  very  ditt'erent  from  those  of  Rome,  who   Distiuctioa 
had  imposed  her  own  laws  upon  all  the  subjects  of  o^^'^"''- 
her  empire.     Adhering  in  general  to  their  ancient  customs, 


1  This  plinuie  was  borroweil  from  the 
Romaii.'i.  Till-  Tlieoiln^um  cdilc  ppoaks  of 
tlio«?  i.ui  iliTiiiii.  epulis  itdhiticiitur,  I't 
adoninili  |iriuci|if.-i  fHcultjitcin  aiitiquitu.s 
nitTUcruiit.  (ianiier.  Oricim;  clu  (Jou- 
Teniciiu'iit  Kniui,al<  (in  lyi'l>iT"s  Collfc- 
tiouiJfK  Meillfurcs  DisKiTbitioiiM  rt'liitivos 
i  I'llL-tiire  de  Kniiici',  1838,  vol.  v.  p. 
187).  Tliln  nuMiKiir  by  Giirnier,  wiiic-h 
oliUiiiic-il  :i  priw  frmii  the  Aoiuleiiiy  of  Iii- 
KcriptioiiM  ill  17)>1.  i*  n  litirneil  ilisquiKi- 
tioii  OM  the  reliitiuu  hetwe<'ii  the  Knink 
luoiuinhy  uiid  the  uwijie"  of  the  Komiiii 
empire;  iiii'liiiiii;;  eoii.'.iili'ruhly  to  the 
(■ch'"il  of  DiilxiH.  I  only  n-.ii|  it  in  1851: 
it  put-  -"iiii'  things  ill  tt  juxt  li(;lit  ;  yet 
the  :  .,   which  it  U-^iveH  ix  that  of 

oil'  The  uiithor  iloi-n  not  ac- 

couijf  lor    the  rontinuecl  <li>i||iK'tion  \w- 
tw«-ii  the   KmiikH  and   ItoniiuiK,  t^rstiflej 

by   thi'    I f  lii"tory  and  of  law. 

Onrnier  i  ■    iillii'len  to  the  most 

utrikinK  '  I  ■    II'  e.  the  inequality  of 

coiDpuiiition  fur  boiulcldc. 


To  return  to  the  words  conviva  repi.i, 
it  seems  not  probable  that  they  .should 
be  limited  to  those  who  actually  had 
feasted  at  the  royal  tJible;  they  naturally 
iuclude  the  senatorial  families,  one  of 
whom  would  re<-eive  that  honor  if  ho 
should  pre.sent  himself  at  court. 

-  Left's  Salicie,  c.  43  ;  Lej^es  Bur;:un- 
dionuui,  tit.  2.  Murder  and  rohlnry 
were  made  capital  by  Childebert  kinn  of 
Paris;  but  Franrm  was  to  he  sent  for 
triiil  in  the  royal  court,  rftiiViV)/"  jirrsiuui 
ill  lord  pniiliitiir.  Kaluz,  t.  i.  p.  1".  I 
am  indinecl  to  think  that  the  word 
Frniirus  iliiHti  not  absolutely  refer  to  the 
nation  of  the  party,  but  rather  to  his 
rank,  as  opposeil  to  thbilior  pfrsnim  : 
and  cons<'(iuently,  that  it  had  already 
acquired  the  sense  of /Vcrwifiii  itr  frrr-hnrn 
(intfenuus),  which  is  perhaps  its  strict 
meaning.  Du  Canjre,  v<x'.  Fnincus, 
quotes  the  passa({e  in  this  sense.  [XoTE 
IV.] 


154  DISTINCTION  OF  LAWS.  Chap.  II.  Part  I. 

without  desire  of  improvement,  they  left  the  former  habita- 
tions in  unmolested  enjoyment  of  their  civil  institutions.  The 
Frank  was  judged  by  the  Sahc  or  the  Ripuary  code ;  the 
Gaul  followed  that  of  Theodosius.^  This  grand  distinction  of 
Roman  and  barbarian,  according  to  the  law  which  each  fol- 
lowed, was  common  to  the  Frank,  Burgundian,  and  Lombard 
kinsdoms.  But  the  Ostro2;oths,  whose  settlement  in  the  em- 
pire  and  advance  in  civility  of  manners  were  earlier,  inclined 
to  desert  their  old  usages,  and  adopt  the  Roman  jurispru- 
dence.^ The  laws  of  the  Visigoths,  too,  were  com^jiled  by 
bishops  upon  a  Roman  foundation,  and  designed  as  an  uniform 
code,  by  which  both  nations  should  be  governed.^  The  name 
of  Gaul  or  Roman  was  not  entirely  lost  in  that  of  French- 
man, nor  had  the  separation  of  their  laws  ceased,  even  in  the 
provinces  north  of  the  Loire,  till  after  the  time  of  Charle- 
magne.* Ultimately,  however,  the  feudal  customs  of  succes- 
sion, which  depended  upon  principles  quite  remote  from  those 
of  the  civil  law,  and  the  rights  of  territorial  justice  which  the 
barons  came  to  possess,  contributed  to  extirpate  the  Roman 
jurisprudence  in  that  part  of  France.  But  in  the  south,  from 
whatever  cause,  it  survived  the  revolutions  of  the  middle 
ages ;  and  thus  arose  a  leading  division  of  that  kingdom  into 
pays  coutumiers  and  pays  du  droit  ecrit ;  the  former  regulated 
by  a  vast  variety  of  ancient  usages,  the  latter  by  the  civil  law.^ 

1  Inter  Romanes  negotia  causarum  Ro-  north  of  France  on  account  of  the  supe- 

manis    Legibus    prsecipimus    terminari.  rior  advantages,  particularly  in  point  of 

Edict.   Clotair.   1.  circ.  560.     Baluz.  Ca-  composition  for  offences,  annexed  to  the 

pitul.  t.  i.  p.  7.  Salic   law;  while   that  of  the  Visigoths 

-  Giannone,  1.  iii.  c.  2.  being  more   equal,   the   Romans   under 

3  Hist,    de    Languedoc,    t.  i.    p.   242.  their  government  had  no  inducement  to 

Heineccius,    Hist.  Juris  German,  c.  i.  s.  quit  their  own  code.  (Esprit  des  Loix,  1. 

15.  xxviii.  c.  4.)     But  it  does  not  appear  that 

^  Suger,  in  his  Life  of  Louis  VI.,  uses  the  Visigoths  had  any  peculiar  code  of 
the  expression,  lex  Salica  (Recueil  des  laws  till  after  their  expulsion  from  the 
Ilistorieiis.  t.  xii.  p.  24);  and  I  have  kingdom  of  Toulouse.  They  then  re- 
some  recollection  of  having  met  with  the  tained  only  a  small  strip  of  territory  in 
like  words  in  other  writings  of  as  mod-  France,  about  Narbonne  and  Montpel- 
ernadate.     But  T  am  not  convinced  that  lier. 

the  original  Salic  code  was  meant  by  this  However,  the  distinction   of  men  ac- 

phrase,  which  may  have  been  applied  to  cording  to  their  laws  was  preserved  for 

the  local  feudal  customs.     The  capitula-  many    centuries,   both  in    France   and 

lies  of  Charlemagne  are  frequently  term-  Italy.     A  judicial  proceeding  of  the  year 

ed  lex  Salica.     Many  of  these  are  copied  918,  published  by  the  historians  of  Lan- 

from  the  Tlieodosian  code.  guedoc  (t.    ii.  Appendix,   p.  56).   proves 

5  This  division   is  very  ancient,   being  that  the  Roman,  Gothic,  and  Salic  codes 

found    in    the    edict   of   Pistes,    under  were  then  kept   perfectly  separate,  and 

Charle,s  the  Bald,  in  864:  where  we  reiid,  that  tliere  were  distinct"  judges  for  the 

in  ilhs  rcgionibus,  qua;  legem  Romanam  three  nations.     The  Gothic  law  is  refer- 

sequuntur.      (Recueil  des  Histnriens,  t.  red  to  as  an  existing  authority  in  a  char- 

vii.  p.  664.)      Montesquieu   thinks  that  ter  of  1070.      Idem,   t.   iii.  p.  274;    De 

the   Roman  law  fell  into  disuse  in  the  Marca,  Marca  Hispanica,  p.  1159.     Wo- 


Feud.vl  System.     PROVIXCLVL  GOVERXilENT. 


IJO 


The  kingdom  of  Clovis  M-a-;  divideil  into  a  number  of  dis- 
ti'icts,  eai-li  under  the  government  of  a  count,   a    Provinoiui 
name  familiar  to  Roman  sultjects,  bv  which  they   f-';^^'»;r"uieut 
rendered  the  graf  of  the  Germans.'     The  author-    French 
ity  of  this  (.nicer  extended  over  all  the  inhal)itants,   *"'•'"*• 
as  well    Franks  as  natives.     It  was  his  duty  to  administer 
justice,  to  preserve  tranquillity,  to  collect  the  royal  revenues, 
:uid  to  lead,  when  retjuired,  the  free  proprietors  into  the  field."^ 
The  title  of  a  duke  implied  a  higher  dignity,  and  commonly 
gave  authority  over  several  counties.^      These   offices   were 
originally  conferred  during  pleasure ;  but  the  claim  of  a  son 
to  succeed  his  father  would  often  be  found  too  plausible  or 
too  formidable  to  be  rejected,  and  it  is  highly  probable  that, 
even  under  the  Merovingian  kings,  these  provincial  governors 
had  laid  the  foundations  of  that  iiidi'itcndence  which  was  des- 
tined to  change  the  countenance  of  EuroiJC."*     The  Lombard 


men  in  Itity  upon  marriape  usually 
chan^'tl  their  law  and  adoptvil  that  of 
their  hushainl,  returiiin;;  to  their  own  in 
wiilovrhod.J:  hut  to  this  there  are  excep- 
tions. Charters  are  found  as  late  as  the 
twelfth  oeiiturv  with  the  expression,  ijui 
prot'essus  sum  lejre  Ix>ni;obardica  [aut] 
lege  SaHca  [aut]  lege  Aleuiannorum  vi- 
Tere.  But  soon  afterwards  the  distinc- 
tions were  entirely  lost,  partly  through 
the  prevalence  of  the  llonian  law.  and 
partly  through  the  multitude  oi'  local 
stjitutes  in  the  Italian  cities.  Muratori, 
Antiiiuitites  It:ilia'  Dis.sertat.  22;  Du 
i'aiige,  V.  Ix'X.  Heincccius,  ULstoria  .lu- 
rij*  Oermanici,  c.  ii.  s.  51.     [NoTK  V.] 

•  The  word  ^raf  was  not  always  equiv- 
alent to  rnt?ifs ;  it  took  in  some  coun- 
tries, as  in  Engl  ind,the  form  nfrtfu.  and 
stood  for  the  virrmmts  or  sherilT,  the 
count  or  alderman's  deputy.  Some  have 
derived  it  from  srau.  on  the  hypotlie.si.'i 
that  the  elders  presided  iu  the  (iermun 
lL8MMn)i|ies. 

2  Manulfl  Formulir,  1.  i.  .^2. 

3  Ilouard,  the  learned  tnmsliitor  of 
Littleton  (  Ancicns  I/oix  des  Kran^oig, 
t.  i.  p.  H).  snppo-u'S  these  title.^  to  have 
Iteon  applii-il  indilTerently.  Hut  tlie  con- 
tmr)'  \*  <*;i*ily  proved,  and  e»|>ecially  by 
a  line  of  KortuniitUH,  r)uot4.-d  by  DuCange 
and  others 

Qui  modo  dat  Comiti«,  dot  tibl  jura 
Ducin. 
The  rnu>»»  of  M.  IIoiiiir<rs  error  may  per- 
hnp"  \tf  worth  notii-inif.  In  the  nliove- 
plti-<l  ftimi  of  Murculfus,  a  jnrrnhnt  (In 
law  lnii(fliii»te)  is  given  for  the  appoint- 
ment of  tt  duke,  count,  or  patr|ci;in. 
The  uiiitc'rial  part  Iwing  tl»c  same,  It  wuji 


only  necessary  iofiH  vp  thi"  blanks,  as  we 
shouM  call  it,  by  inserting  the  proper 
designation  of  office.  It  is  exjiressed 
therefore,  actionem  rnmitntiis.  dticatus, 
aut  jiulririatiis,  iu  pngo  illo,  quam  aiite- 
cfssor  liiiix  iJti-  usque  nunc  visus  est 
egis.se,  tihi  agendum  regendumque  com- 
uiissimus.  Montesquieu  hius  fallen  into 
a  similar  mistake  (1.  xxx  c.  IG),  forget- 
ting for  a  uionient,  like  Ilouard,  that 
these  instruments  in  Marculfus  were  not 
records  of  real  tran.sactions,  but  general 
foniis  for  future  occasion. 

The  ofllce  of  patrician  is  rather  more 
obscure.  It  seems  to  have  nearly  cor- 
reS]ionded  with  what  was  afterwards  call- 
ed mayor  of  the  ptilace,  and  to  have 
implied  the  command  of  all  the  royal 
forces.  Such  at  least  were  Celsus  and 
hLs  successor  Mummolus  under  Uontrnn. 
This  is  probable  too  from  analogy.  The 
patrician  was  the  highest  oflii-er  in  the 
Itoman  empire  from  the  time  of  Constan- 
tlncand  we  know  how  much  the  Kninks 
themselves.  aii<l  still  more  their  (iaulish 
subjects),  affected  to  imitate  the  style  of 
the  imperial  court. 

This  offlco  was.  as  far  as  T  recollect, 
confined  to  the  kingdom  of  Hurgundy; 
but  the  Kninks  of  this  kingdom  nuiy 
have  borrowed  it  from  the  Hiirgnndians, 
as  the  latter  did  from  the  eni;iiie.  .Mar- 
culfus gives  a  form  for  the  grant  of  the 
offli-e  of  patrician,  which  seem-  to  have 
dilfered  only  in  local  extent  of  authority 
from  that  of  a  duke  or  a  count,  which 
was  the  least  of  the  three;  aw  the  same 
formula  expressing  tlic-ir  functions  is 
sullliient  for  all. 

<  That  the  odlccs  of  count  aud  duko 


156  THE  FRENCH  SUCCESSIOX.    Chap.  H.  Part  I. 

dukes,  those  especially  of  Spoleto  and  Benevento,  acquired 
very  early  an  hereditary  right  of  governing  their  provinces, 
and  that  kingdom  became  a  sort  of  federal  aristocracy.^ 
The  thi-one  of  France  was  always  filled  by  the  royal  house 
of  Meroveus.  However  complete  we  may  imagine 
Succession  ^^^  elective  rights  of  the  Franks,  it  is  clear  that  a 
French  fundamental  law  restrained  them  to  this  family, 
monaic  y.  g|^^^.j_^^  mdeed,  had  been  the  monarchy  of  their  an- 
cestors the  Germans ;  such  long  continued  to  be  those  of 
Spain,  of  England,  and  perhaps  of  all  European  nations. 
The  reigning  family  was  immutable ;  but  at  every  vacancy 
the  heir  awaited  the  confirmation  of  a  popular  election, 
whether  that  were  a  substantial  privilege  or  a  mere  cere- 
mony. Exceptions,  however,  to  the  lineal  succession  are 
rare  in  the  history  of  any  country,  unless  where  an  infant 
heir  Avas  thought  unfit  to  rule  a  nation  of  freemen.  But,  in 
fact,  it  is  vain  to  expect  a  system  of  constitutional  laws 
rigidly  observed  in  ages  of  anarchy  and  ignorance.  Those 
antiquaries  who  have  maintained  the  most  opposite  theories 
upon  such  points  are  seldom  in  want  of  particular  instances 
to  support  theh'  respective  conclusions.^ 

were  originally  but  temporary  may  be  The  Helvetian    counts  appear  to  have 

inferred  from  several  passages  in  Gregory  been  nearly  independent  as  early  as  this 

of  Tours;  as  1.    v.  c.  37,   1.  viii.   c.    18.  period.      (Plauta's  Hist,  of  the  Helvetic 

But  it  seems  by  the  laws  of  the  Alemau-  Confederacy,  chap,  i.) 

ni,  c.  35,  that  the  hereditarj'  succession  l  Giauuone,  1.  iv.     [Note  VI.] 

of  their  dukes  was  tolerably  established  2  Hottomau  (Franco-Gallia,  c.  vi.)and 

at  the  beginning  of  the  seventh  century,  Boulainvilliers  (Etat  de  la  France)  seem 

when  their  code  was  promulgated.     The  to  consider  the  crown  as  absolutely  elec- 

Bavarians  chose  their  own  dukes  out  of  tive.      The   Abbe   Vertot  (Memoires    de 

one  family,  as  is  declared  in  their  laws;  I'Acad.  des  Inscriptions,  t.  iv)  maintains 

tit.  ii.  c.  1,  and  c.  20.     (Liudebrog,  Co-  a   limited   right   of  election  within   the 

dex  Legum  Antiquarum.)     This  the  em-  reigning  family.     M.  de  Foncemagne  (t. 

peror  ilenry  II.  confirms:  Noune  scitis  i.  and  t.  viii.  of  the  same  collection)  as- 

(he  says),  Bajuarios  ab  initio  ducem  eli-  serts  a  strict  hereditary  descent.     Neither 

gendi  liberam  habere  potestatem  ?     (Dit-  perhaps  sufficiently  distinguishes  acts  of 

mar,  apud  Schmidt,  Hist,  des  Allemands,  violence  from  those  of  right,  nor  observes 

t.   ii.   p.   404.)     Indeed   the   consent  of  the  changes  in  the  French  constitution 

these   German   provincial   nations,   if  I  between  Clovis  and  Ohilderic  III. 

may  use  the  expression,  seems  to  have  It   would    now    be    admitted    by   the 

been  always  required,  as  in  an  independ-  majority  of  French  antiquaries,  that  the 

ent  monarchy.     Ditmar,  a  chronicler  of  nearest  heir  would  not  have  a  strict  right 

the  tenth  century,  says  that  Eckard  was  to  the  throne ;  but  if  he  were  of  full  age 

made  duke  of  Thoringia   totius   populi  and   in   lineal   descent,  his   expectation 

consensu.    Pfeffel,  .\brege  Chronologique  would  be  such  as  to  constitute  a  moral 

t.  i.  p.  184.      With   respect  to    France,  claim  never  to  be  defeated  or  contested, 

properly  so  called,  or  the   kingdoms  of  provided  no  impediment,  such  as  his  mi- 

Neustria  and  Burgundy,  it  may  be  less  nority  or  weakness  of  mind,  stood  in  the 

easy  to  prove  the  existence  of  hereditary  way.     After  the  middle  of  the  seventh 

offices  under  tlie  Merovingians.     But  the  century  the  mayors  of  the  palace  selected 

feebleness  of  their  government  makes  it  whom  they  would.     As  it  is  still  clearer 

probable  that  so  natural  a  system  of  dis-  from  history  that  the  Carlovingian  kings 

organization  had    not  failed  to  ensue,  did  not  assume  the  crown  without  an 


Feudal  System.  CLOVIS.  1.")7 

Clovi?  \va>  a  loailer  of  barbarians,  wlio  respected  his  valor 
ami  tlie  vimk  which  they  had  given  him,  but  were    Liu,;,,,^} 
incai>able  of  servile  feelings,  and  jealous  of  their   nutuoiity 
common  as  well  as  individual  rights.     In  order  to 
appreciate  the  power  which  he  possessed,  it  has  been  custom- 
ary wiili    French  writers  to  bring  forward  the   well-known 
story  of  the  viise  of  Soissons.     When  the  phnider   vase  of 
taken  in  Clovis's  invasion  of  Gaul  was  set  out  in    Soissons. 
this  place  for  distribution,  he  begged  for  himself  a  precious 
vessel  belonging  to  the  church  of  llheims.     The  army  hav- 
ing expressed  their  willingness  to  consent,  "You  shall  have 
nothing  here,"  exclaimed  a  soldier,  striking  it  with  his  battle- 
axe,  "  but  what  falls  to  your  share  by  lot."      Clovis  took  the 
vessel  without  marking  any  resentment,  but  found  an  oppor- 
tunity, next  year,  of  revenging  himself  by  the  death  of  the 
soldier.     The  whole  behavior  of  Clovis  appears  to  be  that 
of   a    barbarian    chief,    not    daring   to   withdraw    anything 
from  the  rapacity,  or  to  chastise  the  rudeness,  of  his  tbllow- 
ers. 

But  if  such  was  the  liberty  of  the  Franks  when  they  first 
became  conquerors  of  Gaul,  we  have  good  reason   p^^^pj.  ^^ 
to  believe  that  thev  did  not  lonir  i>rescrve  it.     A    tiie  kings 

,  .  •  i  .1  •  increases. 

people  not  very  numerous  spread  over  the  spacious 
provinces  of  Gaul,  wherever  lands  were  assigned  to  or  seized 
by  them.  It  became  a  burden  to  attend  those  general  assem- 
blies of  the  nation  which  were  annually  convened  in  the 
month  of  ^larch,  to  deliberate  upon  public  business,  as  well 
as  to  exhibit  a  muster  of  military  strength.  After  some 
time  it  appears  that  these  meetings  di'cw  together  only  the 
bishops,  and  those  invested  with  civil  oitices.^     The  ancient 

election,  we  may  more  probably  suppose  says,  "  must  have  been  deeply  implanted 

this  to  have  been  the  aiirient  ronstitu-  when    Pepin   was    forced    to   obtain    the 

tion.     The  px^sa^es  in  (Jn-piry  of  Tours  po|)e'8  sanction    before   he   ventured    to 

which  liMjk  like  a  mere  lierediturysucces-  depose  the  Merovingian  prince,  obscure 

iion   such   iLS,  Qiintuor   filii  regniim  or-  and    despised    as    he  was.''     (Kssais    sur 

cipiunt  rt  inter  se  it'iiiA  Innre  iliviiiiint,  THist.  de  France,  p.  29S.)     Hut  surely 

do  not  excluilc  a  popular  election,  which  this  is  not  to  the  point.     Childeric   III. 

he  woulcl  consider  a  more  fonnality,  and  was  a  reigning  king;    and,  besides  this, 

which  in  that  case  must  have  been  little  the  i|iic~tii)ii  is   by  no  nieatis  lui   to  the 

more.  right  of   the  Merovingian  fiiniily  to  the 

I  mu^t  a<lmtt,  however,  that  M.  Ouizot,  throne,  which  no  one  disputes,  but  as  to 

whose  authority  is  deserveiily  so  high,  that  of  the  nearest  heir.     The  ease  was 

givcx  more  weight  to  lineal    inheritJince  the  siune  with  the  secoml  dynasty.     The 

than  iiuiny  othi-rs  luive  done;  nnil  con-  Franks  bouml  themselves  to  the  fandly 

seiiuently  tn-ati  the  phrniu-s  of  historians  of  I'cpin,  not  to  any  one  heir  within  it. 
■Kt-ndni;  to  imply  a  choice  by  the  pe'iple  •  DuboJ.   t.   ill.  p.  .'327  :   Mably.  Observ. 

as  merely  n-<-ognitinns  of  a  legal  right,  sur  I'llistoire  de  France,  I.  I.  c.  3. 
"The  principle  of  hereditary  right,"  he 


158  POWER  OF  THE  KINGS.         Chap.  II.  Pakt  I. 

inhabitants  of  Gaul,  having  little  notion  of  political  liberty, 
were  unlikely  to  resist  the  most  tyrannical  conduct.  Many 
of  them  became  officers  of  state,  and  advisers  of  the  sover- 
eign, whose  ingenuity  might  teach  maxims  of  desj)otism  un- 
known in  the  forests  of  Germany.  We  shall  scarcely  wrong 
the  bishops  by  suspecting  them  of  more  pliable  courtUness 
than  was  natural  to  the  long-haired  warriors  of  Clovis.-^  Yet 
it  is  probable  that  some  of  the  Franks  were  themselves  in- 
strumental in  this  change  of  their  government.  The  court 
of  the  Merovingian  kings  was  crowded  with  followers,  who 
have  been  plausibly  derived  from  those  of  the  German  chiefs 
described  by  Tacitus ;  men  forming  a  distinct  and  elevated 
class  in  the  state,  and  known  by  the  titles  of  Fideles,  Leudes, 
and  Antrustiones.  They  took  an  oath  of  fidelity  to  the  king, 
upon  their  admission  into  that  rank,  and  were  commonly 
remunerated  with  gifts  of  land.  Under  difi'erent  appellations 
we  find,  as  some  antiquaries  think,  this  class  of  courtiers  in 
the  early  records  of  Lombardy  and  England.  The  general 
name  of  Vassals  (from  Gwas,  a  Celtic  word  for  a  servant)  is 
applied  to  them  in  every  country.''  By  the  assistance  of 
these  faithful  supporters,  it  has  been  thought  that  the  regal 
authority  of  Clovis's  successors  was  insured.^  However  this 
may  be,  the  annals  of  his  more  immediate  descendants  ex- 
hibit a  course  of  oppression,  not  merely  displayed,  as  will 
often  happen  among  uncivilized  people,  though  free,  in 
acts  of  private  injustice,  but  in  such  general  tyranny  as  is 
incompatible  with  the  existence  of  any  real  checks  upon  the 
sovereign.* 

But  before  the  middle  of  the  seventh  century  the  kings  ot 

1  Gregory  of  Tours,  throughout  his  by  being  vassals  or  servants,  became  tlie 
history,  talks  of  the  royal  power  in  the  object  of  beneficiary  donations.  In  one 
tone  of  Louis  XIV. 's  court.  If  we  were  of  Marculfus"s  precedents,  1.  i.  f.  18,  we 
obliged  to  believe  all  we  read,  even  the  have  the  form  by  which  an  Antrustion 
va.se  of  Soissons  would  bear  witness  to  was  created.  See  du  Gauge,  under  these 
the  obedience  of  the  Franks.  several  words,  and  Muratori's  thirteenth 

2  The  Gasindi  of  Italy  and  the  Anglo-  dissertation  on  Italian  Antiquities.  The 
Saxon  royal  Thaue  appear  to  correspond,  Gardingi  sometimes  mentioned  in  the 
more  or  less,  to  the  Antrustions  of  Fi-auce.  laws  of  the  A'isigoths  do  not  appear  to  be 
The  word   Thane,   however,   as   will  be  of  the  same  description. 

seen  in  another  chapter,  was  used  in  a  3  Boantus  .  .  .  vallatus  in  domo  sua, 

very  extensive  sense,  and  comprehended  ab  hominibus  regis  interfectus  est.  Greg, 

all   free   proprietors   of   land.      That   of  Tur.  1.  viii.  c.  11.     A  few  spirited  retain- 

Leiules  seems  to  imply  only  subjection,  ers  were  sufficient   to  execute  the  man- 

and  is  frequently  applied  to  the  whole  dates  of  arbitrary  power  among  a  barbar- 

body  of  a  nation,  as  well  as,  in  a  stricter  ous  disunited  people, 

sense,   to    the    king's   personal  vassals.  *  This  is  more  fully  discussed  in  Note 

This  name  they  did  not  acquire,  origin-  VII. 
ally,  by  possessing  benefices ;  but  rather, 


Feudal  System.  MAYORS  OF  THE  PALACE.  159 

this  luie  had  fallen  into  that  contemiitible  state  t> 
which  has  heen  described  in  tiie  last  cha[»tcr.  of  Tiic  niviu 
The  mayors  of  the  palivce,  who  from  mere  othcers  m',"',',^.;  of 
oi"  the  court  had  now  become  masters  of  the  kiiijjj-  '^'"^  palace. 
doui.  were  elected  by  the  Frank.s  not  indeed  the  whole  body 
of  that  nation,  but  the  provincial  governors  and  considerable 
proprietors  of  land.^  Some  inequality  there  probably  existed 
ti-om  the  beginninff  in  the  partition  of  estates,  and  this  bail 
been  gi-eatly  incre;ised  by  the  connnon  changes  of  pro[)ertv, 
by  the  rapine  of  those  savage  times,  and  by  royal  munifi- 
cence. Tims  arose  that  landed  aristocracv  which  became  tlie 
most  striking  feature  in  the  political  system  of  Euro[)e  dur- 
ing many  centuries,  and  is,  in  fact,  its  great  distinction,  both 
from  the  despotism  of  Asia,  and  the  eipiality  of  republican 
governments. 

Tiiere  has  been  some  dispute  about  the  origin  of  nobility 
in  France,  whicii  might  perhaps  be  settled,  or  at  . 
lea.*t  better  understood,  by  fixing  our  conception  of  " 
the  term.  In  our  modern  acceptation  it  is  usually  taken  to 
imply  certain  distinctive  privileges  in  the  political  order, 
inherent  in  the  Itlood  of  the  possessor,  and  consecpiently  not 
transferable  like  those  which  property  confers.  Limited  to 
this  sense,  noI)ility,  I  conceive,  was  unknown  to  the  con- 
querors of  Gaul  till  long  after  the  downfall  of  the  Roman 
emjiire.  Tbey  felt,  no  doubt,  the  common  prejudice  of  man- 
kind in  favor  of  those  wiiose  ancestry  is  conspicuous,  when 
compared  with  persons  of  obscure  birth.  This  is  the  pri- 
mary meaning  of  nobility,  and  jierfectly  distinguishable  from 
the   possession  of   exclusive   civil    rights.     Those   who  are 

1  The  revolution  which  ruined  Bnine-        It  mif;ht  even   he  surmised  that   the 

haut  WHS  bniujrht  about  tiy  till- defection  crown   was  considered    as  more   elective 

of  her  chief  notilcs.  i's|)e<'i;illy  VViirnachar,  than  before.    The  author  of  (iesti  Kej^um 

mayor  of  .\ustnisia.     Ipon  ("lotaire  II. "s  Fnincoruin,  an   old  chronicler  who  lived 

vict/^iry  over  her  he  was  i-ninpcllcd  to  re-  in  tho-^e   times,  cliunges  Ills  form  of  cx- 

wanl   the^e  adherents  at   the  cx|>ense  of  pressinp  a  kind's  accession  from  that  of 

the   monarchy.       \Varnachar    wji.s    made  ("lotaire  II.     Of  the  earlier  kin^rs  he  sayg 

mayor  of  Burpundy,  with  an  oath  from  only,  retnium   recejiit.     But  of  ('lotaire, 

the  king  nevi-r  to  dispoiiKSji  hlni  (Krede-  Fninci     quoijue   pra'(lietuni     Clotairium 

Karius.  e.    42.)     In   *72>>   the  nobility  of  regeni  parvulum  supni  se  in  regiinm  sta- 

Bunrundy    deciiniMl    to    elect    a   mayor,  tuerunt.       Ajfain,    of    the    accessjun    of 

which  iK-ein"  to  have  been   crinsidenfd  as  DaRobertl.:  Austrasii  Knincisuperiores, 

their  ri((ht.     from  this  time  nothitii;  wax  con(fre(fati  in  unum,   DajiobiTtiMii  supra 

done  witlinnt  the  coiiPicnt  of  the  aristoo-  Be     in     re(;nuni    stjituurit.       In    another 

racy.      Unlcwt    we  ascribe   all    to  the  dif-  place,  Deccdente  pnefato    ri'ire  ('liid^ivoo, 

fen-nt   wayit  of  thlnkiuK  in  On'^ory  and  Kranei  Clutjiirium  scniorem   pucriim  ex 

FrT'diifarlus,    the  one    a    Koman   bishop,  trlbus   sibi   rej;em    statiierunt.      Several 

the  other  a   Krnnk   or   Bur^unilian,  tho  other  iuBtances  might  be  <iuoled. 
gOTemmeut  wiu  oltogethor  changed. 


1  GO  THE  NOBILITY.  Chap.  II.  Part  I. 

acquainted  with  the  constitution  of  the  Roman  republic  will 
recollect  an  instance  of  the  ditference  between  these  two 
species  of  hereditary  distinction,  in  the  patricii  and  the 
nohiles.  Thousrh  I  do  not  think  that  the  tribes  of  German 
origin  paid  so  much  regard  to  genealogy  as  some  Scandinavian 
and  Celtic  nations  (else  the  beginnings  of  the  greatest  houses 
would  not  have  been  so  enveloped  in  doubt  as  we  find  them), 
there  are  abundant  traces  of  the  respect  in  which  families 
of  known  antiquity  were  held  among  them.^ 

But  the  essential  distinction  of  ranks  in  France,  pei'haps 
also  in  8]iain  and  Lombardy,  was  founded  upon  the  posses- 
sion of  land,  or  upon  civil  employment.  The  aristocracy  of 
wealth  preceded  that  of  birth,  which  indeed  is  still  chiefly 
dependent  upon  the  other  for  its  importance.  A  Frank  of 
large  estate  was  styled  a  noble ;  if  he  wasted  or  was 
despoiled  of  his  wealth,  his  descendants  fell  into  the  mass  of 
the  people,  and  the  new  possessor  became  noble  in  his  stead. 
Families  were  noble  by  descent,  because  they  w^ere  rich  by 
the  same  means.  Wealth  gave  them  power,  and  power  gave 
them  preeminence.  But  no  distinction  was  made  by  the 
Salic  or  Lombard  codes  in  the  composition  for  homicide,  the 
great  test  of  political  station,  except  in  favor  of  the  king's 
vassals.  It  seems,  however,  by  some  of  the  barbaric  codes, 
those  namely  of  the  Burgundians,  Visigoths,  Saxons,  and 
the  English  colony  of  the  latter  nation,'^  that  the  free  men 
were  ranged  by  them  into  two  or  three  classes,  and  a  diiFer- 
ence  made  in  the  price  at  which  their  lives  were  valued :  so 
that  there  certainly  existed  the  elements  of  aristocratic  privi- 
leges, if  we  cannot  in  strictness  admit  their  completion  at  so 
early  a  period.  The  Antrustions  of  the  kings  of  the  Franks 
were  also  noble,  and  a  composition  was  paid  for  their  mur- 
der, treble  of  that  for  an  ordinary  citizen ;  but  this  was  a 

iThe  antiquity  of  French  nobility  is  bishops.  (Marculfi  Formulae,  1.  i.  c.  4, 
maiutiiim'Ll  temperately  by  Schmidt,  Hist,  cum  notis  Bignonii,  in  Baluzii  Capitu- 
des  AUemands,  t.  i.  p.  361,  and  with  laribus.)  It  "was  probably  much  con- 
acrimony  by  Montesquieu,  Esprit  des  sidered  in  conferring  dignities.  Frede- 
Loix,  I.  XXX.  c.  25.  Neither  of  them  garius  says  of  Protadius,  mayor  of  the 
proves  any  more  than  I  have  admitted,  palace  to  Brunehaut,  Quoscunque  genere 
The  expression  of  Ludovicus  Pius  to  his  nobiles  reperiebat,  totos  humiliare  cona- 
freedmau.  Hex  fecit  te  liberum,  non  batur,  ut  nuUusreperiretur,  quigradum, 
nobilem  ;  quod  impossibile  est  post  liber-  quern  arripuerat,  potuisset  assumere. 
tatem,  is  very  intelligible,  without  iuiag-  [Note  VIII.] 

ining  a  privileged  class.     Of  the  practi-  -Leg.  Burgund.  tit.  26;  Leg.  Visigoth, 

cal  regard   paid  to  birth,  indeed,  there  1.  ii.  t.  2,  c.4  (in  Lindebrog.);  Du  Cange, 

are  many  proofs.    It  seems  to  have  been  voc.   Adalingus,  nobilis  |    Wilkins,   Leg. 

a    recommendation    in     ttie    choice    of  Ang.  Sax.  passim. 


Fecdal  System.       FISCAL  LVNDS  — BENEFICES.  IGl 

pergonal,  not  an  liercflitarv  distinction.     A  link  \va.s  wanting 

.  .  *     .      .  .  .  ^ 

to  connect  tiicir  eminent  [nivilcgcs  with  their  posterity;  iuid 
this  link  wa^  to  be  snpplied  by  hereditai'y  benetices. 

Besides  the  lands  distributed  anionj;  the  nation,  others 
■were  reserved  to  the  crown,  partly  tor  the  support  Fiscal 
of  its  dignity,  and  partly  for  the  exercise  of  its  ^''"J^- 
munificence.  These  are  called  fiscal  lands ;  they  were  dis- 
persed over  different  jiarts  of  the  kinirdoni.  and  formed  the 
most  regular  source  of  revenue.^  But  tlie  greater  portion 
of  them  were  granted  out  to  favored  subjects,  under  the 
nanit^  of  benefices,  the  nature  of  which  is  one  of  the  most 
important  points  in  the  policy  of  these  ages.  Benefices 
were,  it  is  i)robable,  most  frequently  bestowed  upon 
the  professed  courtiers,  the  Antrustiones  or  Leudes,  ®*'^^*'®*- 
and  upon  the  provincial  governors.  It  by  no  means  appears 
that  any  conditions  of  military  service  were  exj)ressly 
annexed  to  these  grants  :  but  it  may  justly  be  presumed  that 
such  favors  were  not  conferred  witliout  an  expectation  of 
some  return  ;  and  we  read  both  in  law  and  history  that  bene- 
ficiary tenants  were  more  closely  connected  with  the  crown 
than  mere  alodial  proprietors.  Whoever  possessed  a  bene- 
fice was  expected  to  serve  his  sovereign  in  the  field.  But  of 
alodial  proprietors  only  the  owner  of  three  mansi  was  called 
upon  for  personal  service.  AVhere  there  were  three  posses- 
sors of  single  mansi,  one  went  to  the  army,  and  the  others 
contributed  to  his  equipment.^  Such  at  least  were  the  regu- 
lations of  Charlemagne,  whom  I  cannot  believe,  with  Mably, 
to  have  relaxed  the  obligations  of  military  attendance. 
After  the  peace  of  Coblent/,  in  800,  Charles  the  Bald 
restored  all  alodial  property  belonging  to  his  subjects,  who 
liad  taken  part  against  him.  l>ut  not  his  own  beneficiary 
grants,  which  they  were  considered  .as  having  forfeited. 

Most  of  those  who  have  written  \i\Hm  the  feudal  svstem 
lay  it  down  that  benefices  were  originally  precari-   Their 
ou3  and  revoked  at  pleasure  by  the  sovereign  ;  that   *"'f^»'- 

'  The  (lpinc*ne  lanils  of  the  crown  are  I  cannot  define   the   precise  area  of  a. 

rontiniifilly  nicntioiipil  in  the  early  writ-  niansufl.     It  consisteil,  aocoriliiit;   to  Pu 

em;   tin-   kin;-)!,  in  JouriioyiiKC   to  liilfcT-  <'iinK<',   of    twclvi;  jii(;i-ni ;  Init   what    lie 

ent    pnrt*   of  their   ijoiiiiiiloiw.  tooli    up  meant  by  a  jll^;<•^  1  liiiow  not.     The  an- 

tlii-ir   alrfvle    In    them.     Chnrlcma^no    U  cient  Koiiiati  jiijier  was ahoiit  five  ri^'htliH 

Ti-ry  full    In    hlM   dir«-ctlonii   aa   to  their  of  an   acre  ;   tlie   I'arisian  ar|ii'nt  whh  ,\ 

niniia^^-ioent.      CapitularU,   A.D.  797,  et  fourtli     inoio    than    one.      This    woulil 

alihi.  make  a  dillurenco  an  two  to  one. 

»C«pitul.  Car  Mag.  ann.  807  and  812. 

VOL.   I.  17 


162  EXTENT   OF  BENEFICES.       Chap.  II.  Part  I. 

they  were  afterwards  granted  for  life ;  and  at  a  subsequent 
period  became  hereditary.  No  satisfactory  proof,  however, 
appears  to  have  been  brought  of  the  first  stage  m  this  prog- 
ress.^ At  least,  I  am  not  convinced  that  beneficiary  grants 
were  ever  considered  as  resumable  at  pleasure,  unless  where 
some  delinquency  could  be  imputed  to  the  vassal.  It  is  pos- 
sible, though  I  am  not  aware  of  any  documents  which  prove 
it,  that  benefices  may  in  some  instances  have  been  granted 
for  a  term  of  years,  since  even  fiefs  in  much  later  times  were 
occasionally  of  no  greater  extent.  Their  ordmary  duration, 
however,  was  at  least  the  life  of  the  possessor,  after  which 
they  reverted  to  the  fisc.^  Nor  can  I  agree  with  those  who 
deny  the  existence  of  hereditary  benefices  under  the  first 
race  of  French  Idngs.  The  codes  of  the  Burgundians,  and 
of  the  Visigoths,  which  advert  to  them,  are,  by  analogy,  wit- 
nesses to  the  contrary.^  The  precedents  given  in  the  forms 
of  Marculfus  (about  660)  for  the  grant  of  a  benefice,  contain 
very  full  terms,  extending  it  to  the  heirs  of  the  beneficiary.* 
And  Mably  has  plausibly  mferred  the  perpetuity  of  bene- 
fices, at  least  in  some  instances,  from  the  language  of  the 
treaty  at  Andely  in  587,  and  of  an  edict  of  Clotaire  II.  some 
years  later.^  We  can  hardly  doubt  at  least  that  children 
Avould  put  in  a  very  strong  claim  to  what  their  father  had 
enjoyed ;    and  the   weakness  of  the   crown  in  the  seventh 

1  [Note  IX.]  one  John,  in  795.     Baluzii   Capitularia, 

2  The  following  passage  from  Gregory     t.  ii.  p.  1400. 

of  Tours  seems  to  prove  that,  althougli  5  Quicqiiid  antefati  reges  ecclesiis  aut 

sons  were  occasionally  permitted  to  sue-  fidelibus   suis   contulerunt,   aut  adhuo 

ceed  their  fathers,  an  indulgence  which  conferre   cum    justitia  Deo   propitiante 

easily  grew  up  into  a  right,  the  crown  voluerint.stabiliterconservetur ;  etquic- 

had,  in  his  time,  an  unquestionable  re-  quid  unicuiqiie    fidelium  in   utriusque 

version  after  the  death  of  its  original  regno  per  legem  et  justitiam  redhibetur, 

beneficiary.      Hoc   tempore  et    Wande-  nullum    ei    prcjudicium    ponatur,    sed 

linus,  nutritorChildeberti  regis  obiit;  sed  liceat   res   debitas   possidere  atque  reci- 

in  locum  ejus   nuUus  est  subrogatus,  eo  pere.     Et  si  aliquid  uuicuique    per  in- 

quod  regina  mater  curam  velit  propriam  terregna     sine    culpa     sublatum     est, 

habere   de   Alio.        Quacunque   de   fisco  audientia  habita  restauretur.     Et  de  eo 

meruit,  fisci  jiirihus  sunt  relata.     Obiit  qviod    per  munificentias   prfBcedentium 

his     diebus     Bodegesilus     dux     plenus  regum  unusquisque  usque  ad  transitum 

dierum;  sed  nihil  de  facultate  ejus  filiis  gloriosse      memorise      domini     Chlotha- 

minutum  est.  1.  viii.  c.  22.     Gregory's  charii    regis     possedit,  cum     securitate 

work,  however,  does  not  go  farther  than  possideat ;  et  quod  exinde  fidelibus  per- 

595.  sonis  ablatum  est,  de  pnesenti  recipiat. 

3  Leges  Burgundiorum,  tit.  i.;  Leges  Foedus  Andeliacum,  in  Gregor.   Turon. 
Visigoth.  1.  V.  tit.  2.  1.  ix.  c.  20. 

■»Marculf.    form.   xii.   and    xiv.    1.   i.  Quoecunque   ecclesije   vel   clericis  vel 

This  precedent  was  in  use  down  to  the  quibuslibet  personis  a  gloriosse  memoria3 

eleventh  century  :  its  expressions  recur  prsefatis  principibus  munificentia;  largi- 

in   almost  every   charter.     The  earliest  tate   coUatas  sunt,  omni  firmitate   per- 

iustance  I  have  seen  of  an  actual  grant  durent.     Edict.  Chlotachar  I.  vel  potius 

to  a  private  per.-^ou  is  of  Cliarlemagne  to  II.  in  Ilecueil  des  Historiens,  t.  iv.  p.  11(3. 


Fecd^vl  System.  SUBINFF.UDATIOX.  1 03 

century  must  have  rendered  it  djilicult  to  reclaim  its  prop- 
erty. 

A  natural  consequence  of  hereditary  benefices  was  that  those 
who  possessed  them  carved  out  portions  to  be  held  subinfou- 
of  themselves  by  a  similar  tenure.  Abundant  proofs  J^'t'"^^"- 
of  this  custom,  best  known  by  the  name  of  subinfeudation, 
occur  even  in  the  capitidaries  of  Pepin  and  Charleinaiine. 
At  a  later  period  it  became  universal ;  and  what  had  begun 
perhaps  through  ambition  or  pride  was  at  last  dictated  by 
necessity.  In  that  dissolution  of  all  law  which  ensued  after 
the  death  of  Charlemagne,  the  powerful  leaders,  constantly 
engaged  iu  domestic  warfare,  placed  their  chief  dependeiiey 
upon  men  whom  they  attached  by  gratitude,  and  bound  liy 
strong  conditions.  The  oath  of  fidelity  which  they  had  taken, 
the  homage  which  they  had  paid  to  the  sovereign,  they 
exacted  from  their  own  vassals.  To  render  military  service 
became  the  essential  obligation  which  the  tenant  of  a  benefice 
undertook  ;  and  out  of  those  ancient  grants,  now  become  tor 
the  most  part  hereditary,  there  grew  iij)  in  the  tenth  century, 
both  iu  name  and  reality,  the  sy.-tein  of  feudal  tcuui'cs.^ 

This  revolution  was  accompanied  by  another  still  more 
important.  The  provincial  governors,  the  dukes  usurpation 
and  counts,  to  whom  we  may  add  tiie  marquises  or  of  proviuciai 
margraves  intrusted  with  the  custody  of  the  fron-  e^^'^'^"'"^^- 
tiers,  had  taken  the  lead  in  all  pultlic  measures  after  the 
decline  of  the  Merovingian  kings.  Charlemagne,  duly  jealous 
of  their  ascendency,  ciiecked  it  by  sutlering  the  duchies  to 
expire  without  renewal,  by  granting  very  few  counties  hered- 
iUu-ily,  by  removing  the  administration  of  justice  from  the 
luunls  of  the  counts  into  those  of  his  own  itinerant  judges, 
and,  if  we  are  not  deceived  in  his  policy,  by  elevating  the 
ecclesiastical  order  fus  a  counterpoise  to  that  of  the  nobility. 
Even  in  his  time,  the  faults  of  the  counts  are  the  constant 
theme  of  the  c^ipitularies  ;  their  dissipation  and  neglect  of 
duty,  their  oppression  of  the  poorer  proprietors,  and  their 
artt'id  attempt-  ti>  appropriate  tli<!  crown  lauds  situatecl  williiii 
their  territory.*  W  Ciiarlemagne  was  unable  to  redress  those 
evils,  how  much  must  they  have  increased  under  his  posterity! 
That  great  prince  seldom  gave  more  than  one  county  to  the 

I  (XoTB  X.)  t.  ii.  p.  168;  Oaillurd,  Vie  de  Cborlem.  t. 

»  <'nplliiliiriii   far.    MiiK    et   Uwl.   I'll.     111.  p.  11«. 
pa'-liii  j  SctiiiiMt,  Illxt.    Jen  Alli-umiiiln, 


164  CHANGE  OF  TENURES.       Chap.  II.  Part  I. 

same  person ;  and  as  they  were  generally  of  moderate  size, 
coextensive  with  episcopal  dioceses,  there  Avas  less  danger,  if 
this  policy  had  been  followed,  of  their  becoming  independent.^ 
But  Louis  the  Debonair,  and,  in  a  still  greater  degree,  Charles 
the  Bald,  allowed  several  counties  to  be  enjoyed  by  the  same 
person.  The  possessors  constantly  aimed  at  acquiring  private 
estates  within  the  limits  of  their  charge,  and  thus  both 
rendered  themselves  formidable,  and  assumed  a  kind  of  patri- 
monial right  to  their  dignities.  By  a  capitulary  of  Charles 
the  Bald,  a.d.  877,  the  succession  of  a  son  to  the  father's 
county  appears  to  be  recognized  as  a  known  usage.'^  In  the 
next  century  there  followed  an  entire  prostration  of  the  royal 
authority,  and  the  counts  usurped  their  governments  as  little 
sovereignties,  with  the  domains  and  all  regalian  rights,  subject 
only  to  the  feudal  superiority  of  the  king.^  They  now  added 
the  name  of  the  county  to  their  own,  and  their  wives  took  the 
appellation  of  countess.*  In  Italy  the  independence  of  the 
dukes  was  still  more  complete  ;  and  although  Otho  the  Great 
and  his  descendants  kept  a  stricter  rein  over  those  of  Ger- 
many, yet  we  find  the  great  fiefs  of  their  empire,  throughout 
the  tenth  century,  granted  almost  invariably  to  the  male  and 
even  female  heirs  of  the  last  possessor. 

Meanwhile,  the  alodial  proprietors,  who  had  hitherto  formed 
Change  of  the  Strength  of  the  state,  fell  mto  a  much  worse  con- 
tludai  '"^'^  dition.  They  were  exposed  to  the  rapacity  of  the 
tenures.  counts,  who,  whether  as  magistrates  and  governors, 
or  as  overbearing  lords,  had  it  always  in  their  power  to  harass 
them.  Every  district  was  exposed  to  continual  hostilities  ; 
sometimes  from  a  foreign  enemy,  more  often  from  the  owners 
of  castles  and  fastnesses,  which,  in  the  tenth  century,  under 
pretence  of  resisting  the  Normans  and  Hungarians,  served 
the  purposes  of  private  war.  Against  such  a  system  of  rapine 
the  military  compact  of  lord  and  vassal  was  the  only  effectual 
shield ;  its  essence  was  the  reciprocity  of  service  and  protec- 
tion.   But  an  insulated  alodialist  had  no  support ;  his  fortunes 

1  Vaissette,  Hist,  de  Languedoc,  t.  i.  p.  s  it  appears,  by  the  record  of  a  process 

687,  700,  and  not.  87.  in  918,  that  the  counts  of  Toulouse  had 

-  Baluzii  Capitularia,  t.  ii.  p.  263,  269.  already  so  far  usurped  the  rights  of  their 

This  is  a  questionable  point,  and  most  sovereign  as  to  claim  an  estate  on  the 

French  antiquaries  consider  this  famous  ground  of  its  being  a  roj'al  benefice.  Hist, 

capitulary  as  the  foundation  of  an  hered-  de  Languedoc,  t.  ii.  Appen.  p.  56 

itary  right  in  counties.     I  am  inclined  *  Vaissette,  Hist,  de  Languedoc,  t.  i.  p. 

to  think  that  there  was  at  least  a  practice  588,  and  infri,  t.  ii.  p.  38,  109,  and  Ap- 

of  succession  which  is  implied  and  guar-  pendix,  p.  56. 
anteed  by  this  proTision.     [Note  VI.] 


Fecdal  System.    PERSONAL  COJDIENDATION'.  165 

were  strangely  chanired  since  he  clnimod,  at  least  in  vii^lit,  a 
share  in  the  U-gishition  of  liis  country,  and  could  couiiiare 
■with  pride  his  patrimonial  tields  with  the  temporary  benefices 
of  the  crown.  Without  law  to  redress  his  injuries,  without 
the  royal  powt-r  to  support  his  right,  he  had  no  coiuse  left 
but  to  compromise  with  oppression,  and  subject  himself,  in 
return  for  protection,  to  a  feudal  lord.  During  the  tenth  and 
eleventh  centuries  it  appears  tliat  alodial  lands  in  France  liad 
chiefly  become  feudal :  that  is,  they  had  been  surrendered  l)y 
their  proprietors,  and  received  back  again  upon  the  feudal 
conditions  ;  or  more  frei|uently,  periiaps,  the  owner  had  l)cen 
compelled  to  acknowledge  himself  the  iium  or  vassal  of  a 
suzerain,  and  thus  to  confess  an  original  grant  which  had 
never  existed.^  Changes  of  the  same  nature,  though  not 
perhaps  so  extensive,  or  so  distinctly  to  be  traced,  took  place 
in  Italy  and  Germany.  Yet  it  would  be  inaccurate  to  assert 
that  the  prevalence  of  the  feudal  system  has  been  unlimited;  in 
a  great  part  of  France  alodial  tenures  always  subsisted  ;  and 
many  estates  in  the  emiiire  were  of  the  same  descriittion.^ 

There  are,  however,  vestiges  of  a  very  universal  custom 
distinguishable  from    the    feudal    tenin-e  of   land,  .,    .       , 

■  ,  ...  ,  Custom  of 

though  so  analogous  to   it   tliat  it  seems  to  have  personal 
nearly  escaped  the  notice  of  antiquaries.     From  ti'o„""'"'^'^' 
this  silence  of  other  writers,  and  the  great  obscu- 
rity of  the  subject,  I  am  almost  afraid  to  notice  Avhat  several 
passages  in  ancient  laws  and  instruments  concur  to  prove,  that, 
besides  the  relation   estaljlished  between  lord  and  vassal  by 

1  ULit.  de  LanRueiloc,  t.  ii.  p.  1(»9.     It  and,  od  the  other  hand,  in  those  of  tho 

must  l*c  confessed  that  there  do  not  occur  tenth  and  eleventh  centuries,  the  word 

go  many   speeific   instances  of  this  con-  alodinm  is  continually  used  for  a  feud,  or 

Tersion  of  alodial  tenure  into  femlal  iia  hereditary  benefice,  which  renders  this 

mi^bt  be  exfiected.  in  order  to  warrant  subject  still  more  obscure. 

the   supposition    in    the    text.      Several  -  The  maxim,   NuUe    terre   sans  seig- 

records.  however,  are  ijnoted  by  llobert-  neur.  wiis  so  far  from  beinjj  universally 

Bon.  Hist.  Charles  v.,  note  8;  ami  others  received    in    France,    that    in   almost   all 

may  Ik*  found  in  diplomatic  colle<-tionfi.  sontbern    i)rovinces,   or    pays   du   droit 

A     pn^cedent     for    surrenderinif    aloilial  6crit.  lands  were  presumed  to  be  aloilial. 

property   to   the   kiuK,  and    receivini;  it  unle.ss  the  contrary  was  shown,  or,  as  it 

baclc    as    Ills    bcnefire,    ap|H-ar8    even    in  was  called,  fnmc-aleux  suns   titre.     The 

Slarcull'us,  1.  i.  form   13.     The  county  of  parliaments,    however,   seem    latterly    to 

Coniin){i-»,  t>etween    the    l*yrene<>s.    Tou-  liave  inclined  a(;ainst  this  pri'sumplion, 

louse,  and  Uii^orn-,  was  alodial   till   1244,  and  have  thrown    the  burden  of   proof 

when  it  wa*  put  under  the  feuilul  pnitec-  on    the    party   dainiinj;  alodiality.       Kor 

lion  of   the  count  of  Tonlouse.     It  de-  this    see    Itenisart,    Uictionnaire   des   De- 

Tolvi-'l  by  (Mtcbeat  to  the  crovrn  in  1443.  cisions,  art.  Kranc-aleu.     [Notk  XI.) 

Vlllnret,  t.  XT.  p.  34*1.  In  Oermany,  according  to   Du   Cange 

In  many  early  chart<rrs  tin-  kinjf  oon-  voc.    Haro,   tbere  was  a   distinction    bc- 

flrms  the  iHisiu-ssioii  even  ofalodlal  proi>-  tween  Banmes  and  ,SeiMper-llarones ;   tho 

erty  for  i^rwitcr  security  In  lawleiw  times  ;  latter  holding  their  lundu  alodially. 


1G6  PERSONAL  COMMENDATION.    Chap.  II.  Part  I. 

beaeficiaiy  grants,  there  was  another  species  more  personal, 
and  more  closely  resemblmg  that  of  patron  and  client  in  the 
Roman  republic.  This  was  usually  called  commendation ; 
and  appears  to  have  been  founded  on  two  very  general  princi- 
ples, both  of  which  the  distracted  state  of  society  inculcated. 
The  weak  needed  the  protection  of  the  jiowerful ;  and  the 
government  needed  some  security  for  public  order.  Even 
before  the  invasion  of  the  Franks,  Salvian,  a  writer  of  the 
fifth  century,  mentions  the  custom  of  obtaining  the  protection 
of  the  great  by  money,  and  blames  their  rapacity,  though  he 
allows  the  natural  reasonableness  of  the  practice.-^  The  dis- 
advantageous condition  of  the  less  powerful  freemen,  which 
ended  m  the  servitude  of  one  part,  and  in  the  feudal  vassalage 
of  another,  led  such  as  fortunately  still  j^reserved  their  alodial 
property  to  insure  its  defence  by  a  stipulated  payment  of 
money.  Such  payments,  called  Salvamenta,  may  be  traced 
m  extant  charters,  chiefly  indeed  of  monasteries.^  In  the  case 
of  private  persons  it  may  be  j)resumed  that  this  voluntary 
contract  was  frequently  changed  by  the  stronger  party  into 
a  perfect  feudal  dependence.  From  this,  however,  as  I  im- 
agine, it  probably  differed,  in  being  capable  of  dissolution  at 
the  inferior's  pleasure,  without  incurring  a  forfeiture,  as  well 
as  in  having  no  relation  to  land.  Homage,  however,  seems  to 
have  been  incident  to  commendation,  as  well  as  to  vassalaiie. 
Military  service  was  sometimes  the  condition  of  this  engage- 
ment. It  was  the  law  of  France,  so  late  at  least  as  the  com- 
mencement of  the  third  race  of  kings,  that  no  man  could  take 
a  part  in  private  wars,  except  in  defence  of  his  own  lord. 
This  we  learn  from  an  historian  about  the  end  of  the  tenth 
century,  who  relates  that  one  Erminfrid,  having  been  released 
from  his  homage  to  count  Burchard,  on  ceding  the  fief  he  had 
held  of  him  to  a  monastery,  renewed  the  ceremony  on  a  war 
breaking  out  between  Burchard  and  another  nobleman,  where- 
in he  was  desirous  to  give  assistance ;  since,  the  author  ob- 
serves, it  is  not,  nor  has  been,  the  practice  in  France,  for  any 
man  to  be  concerned  in  war,  except  in  the  presence  or  by  the 
command  of  his  lord.^  Indeed,  there  is  reason  to  infer,  from 
the  capitulaines  of  Charles  the  Bald,  that  every  man  was 
bound  to  attach  himseh'  to  some  lord,  though  it  was  the  priv- 
ilege of  a  freeman  to  choose  his  own  superior.*     And  this  is 

1  Du  Cange,  t.  Salramentum.  SRecueil  des  Historiens,  t.  x.  p.  355. 

-Ibid.  *Unusquisqiie   liber  homo   post  mor- 


Fecdal  System.    EDICT  OF  COXRAD  THE  SALIC. 


167 


s^tronglv  supportcil  by  tlie  anah^jry  of  our  Amrlo-Saxon  laws, 
wIrtc  it  is  thiiuently  ivpeatt'd  that. no  luau  sliuiikl  lontimie 
without  a  lord.  There  are,  too,  as  it  seems  to  me,  a  great 
nnmbt'r  of  passages  in  Domesday-hook  which  lonihin  this 
di.-tinction  between  personal  eonnucndatiou  and  the  beneti- 
ciary  tenure  of  land.  Perhaps  I  may  be  thought  to  dwell  too 
prolixly  on  tliis  ol>seure  eustom  ;  but  as  it  tends  to  illustrate 
those  nuuual  relations  of  lord  and  vassal  which  supplied  the 
place  of  regular  government  in  the  polity  of  Europe,  and  has 
seldom  or  never  been  explicitly  noticed,  its  introduction 
seemed  not  im])roper. 

It  has  been  sometimes  said  that  feuds  were  first  rendered 
hereditary  in  Germany  by  Conrad  II.,  surnamed  Edict  of 
the    Salic.      This    opinion    is    perhaps    erroneous,  the'^iic. 
But  there  is  a  famous  edict  of  that  emperor  at 
Milan,  in  the  year  1037,  which,  though  immediately  relating 
only  to  Lombardy,  marks  the  full  maturity  of  the  system,  and 
the  last  stage  of  its  progress.^     I  have  remarked  already  the 
custom  of  subinfeudation,  or  grants  of  lands  by  vassals  to  be 
held  of  them.selves,  which  had  grown  up  with  the  growth  of 
these  teiuux's.     There  had  occurred,  however,  some  disagree- 
ment, lur  want  of  settleil  usage,  between  these  inferior  vas- 
sals and  their  immediate  lords,  which  this  edict  was  expressly 
designed  to   remove.     Four  regulations  of  great  importance 
are  estaljlished  therein :  that  no  man  should  be  deprived  of 


tern  domini  sui,  licenti.im  haboat  se  com- 
mumliiudi  inter  htec  tria  rcjrna  ad  cjuem- 
cunquf  Toluerit.  Similiter  ct  illc  (jui 
nniiijum  alirui  rommendatus  est.  lialuzii 
Capitularia,  t.  i.  p.  443.  \.D.  8(n;.  Vo- 
luiiiu.'i  etiajii  ut  iiuu»iiiiii'(|UC'  liber  homo 
in  uoctro  n.';^no  iwiiiorfui  i|iialeui  voliU'rit 
in  nobU  et  in  noiitris  fidi'liluis  recipiat. 
Capit.  Car.  Calvi,  a.d.  H'l.  Kt  voluniue 
tit  cujuscunijuc  iioHtrum  homo,  in  cuJuh- 
cunijue  rt'tfiio  sit,  <-uni  Koninre  xuo  ia 
hoxtvui.  vcl  aliirt  sui.i  utilitatibim  p<'ri;at. 
Ibid.     .S«'  tixi  lialii//-,  t.  i.  p.  5.'}tj,  '(iJT. 

liv  the  K!<talilii4htiientK  of  St.  Luuin, 
c.  A~,  fvory  Htranijer  coining  to  Fettle 
within  a  barony  wait  to  acknowledge  the 
banin  a*  lonl  within  a  year  and  a  day,  or 
pay  a  fine.  lu  ^juh'  placen  he  even  l)e- 
cai.  ■  rf    or    villein    of    the    lord. 

Or  leH  Koin,  p.  m~.     UlK>n  thiri 

jeai..-,  -I  .11. known  wttlcrM  which  per- 
vaden  the  policy  of  the  middle  ap-«,  waM 
foundc<i  the  droit  d'aubniNc,  or  right  to 
their  uiovablpM  after  their  dweane.  See 
preface  to  Urdouiuiucei  ilea  lUiiD.  t.  i. 
p.  16. 


The  article  Commendatio  in  DuCange's 
Glos.<arv  furni.shes  some  hints  upon  this 
8uliject,  which,  however,  that  author 
doe.-i  not  seem  to  have  fully  apprehended. 
Carpentier,  in  his  Supplement  to  the 
Ulo.ssary,  under  the  word  Va.-i.saticum, 
gives  the  clearest  notice  of  it  that  1  have 
anywhere  found.  Since  writing  the 
above  pages  I  have  found  the  subject 
touched  by  M.  de  Montlosier,  Hist,  de  la 
Monarchic  Krancaise,  t.  i.  p.  854.  [XoTE 
XI.] 

'  Spelman  tell.")  us,  in  his  Treatise  of 
Feuds,  chap,  ii.,  thatOonnidus  Salicus,« 
Frenrh  einprror,  Out  of  (jirvian  ilrscenl 
[what  can  this  mean  .'],  went  to  Konie 
about  915  to  fetch  his  crown  from  I'opo 
John  X.  when,  according  to  him,  the 
succession  of  a  son  to  his  fiitlier's  lief 
was  first  conceded.  An  almost  unpanil- 
leleil  blunder  in  so  learned  a  wrilor ! 
Conrad  tin-  Salic  was  elected  iit  Worms  in 
11124.  crowned  at  Ki>me  by  .lolin  XI.V.  in 
1(127,  uud  made  this  edict  at  Milan  ill 
1037. 


168      PEINCIPLES  OF  FEUDAL  EELATION.    Chap.  II.  Part  I. 

his  fief,  whether  held  of  the  emperor  or  a  mesne  lord,  but  by 
the  laws  of  the  empire  and  the  judgment  of  his  peers ;  ^  that 
from  such  judgment  an  immediate  vassal  might  appeal  to  his 
sovereign ;  that  fiefs  should  be  inherited  by  sons  and  their 
children,  or,  in  their  failure,  by  brothers,  provided  they  were 
feuda  paterna,  such  as  had  descended  from  the  father ;  ^  and 
that  the  lord  should  not  alienate  the  fief  of  his  vassal  with- 
out his  consent.^ 

Such  was  the  progress  of  these  feudal  tenures,  which  deter- 
mined the  pohtical  character  of  every  European  monarchy 
wliere  they  prevailed,  as  well  as  formed  the  foundations  of  its 
jurisprudence.  It  is  certainly  inaccurate  to  refer  this  sys- 
tem, as  is  frequently  done,  to  the  destruction  of  the  Roman 
empire  by  the  northern  nations,  though  in  the  beneficiary 
grants  of  those  conquerors  we  trace  its  beginning.  Four  or 
five  centuries,  however,  elapsed,  before  the  alodial  tenures, 
which  had  become  incomparably  the  more  general,  gave  way, 
and  before  the  reciprocal  contract  of  the  feud  attained  its 
maturity.  It  is  now  time  to  describe  the  legal  qualities  and 
effects  of  this  relation,  so  far  only  as  may  be  requisite  to  un- 
derstand its  influence  upon  the  political  system. 

The  essential  principle  of  a  fief  was  a  mutual  contract  of 
Principles  Support  and  fidelity.  Whatever  obligations  it  laid 
of  a  feudal  upou  the  vassal  of  service  to  his  lord,  correspond- 
ing duties  of  protection  were  imposed  by  it  on  the 
lord  towards  his  vassal.*  If  these  were  transgressed  on  ei- 
ther side,  the  one  forfeited  his  land,  the  other  his  seigniory  or 
rights  over  it.     Nor  were  motives  of  interest  left  alone  to 

1  Nisi  secundum  constitutionem  ante-  tion  is  possible;   namely,  that  the  lord 

cessorum  nostrorum,  et  judicium  parium  should  not   alienate   his   own   seigniory 

suorum  ;  the  very  expressions  of  Magna  withovit  his  vassal's  consent,  which  was 

Charta.  agreeable  to  the  feudal   tenures.     This, 

-  "  Gerardus  noteth,"  says  Sir  H.  Spel-  indeed,  would  be  putting  rather  a  forced 

man,  "  that  this  law  settled  not  the  feud  construction   on   the  words   ne   domino 

upou  the  eldest  son,  or  any  other  son  of  feudum  militis  alienare  liceat. 

the  feudatary  particularly  ;  but  left  it  in  *  Crag.  Jus  Feudale,  1.  ii.  tit.  11.    Beau- 

the  lord's  election  to  please  himself  with  manoir,  Coutumes   de  Beauvoisis,  c.  Ixi. 

which  he  would."     But  the  phrase  of  the  p.  311  ;  Ass.  de  Jerus.  c.  217  ;  Lib.  Feud, 

edict  runs,  Alios  ejus  beneficium  tenere  :  1.  ii.  tit.  26,  47. 

which,  when  nothing  more  is   said,  can  Upon  the  mutual  obligation  of  the  lord 

only  mean  a  partition  among  the  sous.  towards  his  vassal  seems  to  be  founded 

3  The  last  provision  may  seem  strange  the  law  of  warranty,  which  compelled 
at  so  advanced  a  period  of  the  system  ;  him  to  make  indemnification  where  the 
yet,  according  to  Giannone,  feuds  were  tenant  was  evicted  of  his  land.  This 
still  revocable  by  the  lord  in  some  parts  obligation,  however  unreasonable  it  may 
of  Lombardy.  Istoria  di  Napoli,  1.  xiii.  appear  to  us.  extended,  according  to  the 
c.  3.  It  seems,  however,  no  more  than  feudal  lawyers,  to  cases  of  mere  dona- 
had  been  ah-eady  enacted  by  the  first  tion.  Crag.  1.  ii.  tit.  4 ;  Butler's  Notes 
clause  of  this  edict.    Another  iuterpreta-  on  Co.  Litt.  p.  335. 


Feud.\l  System.    PKIXCIPLES   OF  FEUDAL  RELATION.         IG'J 

operate  in  sccuriniic  the  feudal  connection.  The  associations 
foundeil  upon  ancient  custom  and  friendly  attachment,  the 
impulses  of  gratitude  and  honor,  the  dread  of  infamy,  the 
sjinctions  of  religion,  were  all  employed  to  strengthen  these 
ties,  and  to  render  them  equally  poweii'ul  with  the  relations 
of  nature,  and  far  more  so  than  those  of  political  society.  It 
is  a  cpiestion,  agitated  among  the  feudal  lawyers,  whetiier  a 
vassal  is  bound  to  follow  the  standard  of  his  lord  against  his 
own  kindred.^  It  was  one  more  important  whether  he  must 
do  so  against  the  king.  In  the "  works  of  those  who  wrote 
when  the  feudal  system  was  declining,  or  who  were  anxious  to 
maintain  the  royal  authority,  this  is  commonly  decided  in  the 
negixtive.  Littleton  gives  a  form  of  homage,  with  a  reserva- 
tion of  the  allegiance  due  to  the  sovereign  ;  ^  and  the  same 
prevailed  in  Normandy  and  some  other  countries.^  A  law  of 
Frederic  Barbarossa  enjoins  iliat  in  every  oath  of  fealty  to  an 
inferior  lord  the  vassal's  duty  to  the  emperor  should  be  ex- 
pressly reserved.  But  it  was  not  so  during  the  height  of 
the  feudal  system  in  France.  The  vassals  of  Henry  II.  and 
Ridiard  I.  never  hesitated  to  adhere  to  them  against  the  sov- 
ereign, nor  do  they  appear  to  have  incurred  any  blame  on 
that  account.  Even  so  late  as  the  age  of  St.  Louis,  it  is  laid 
down  in  his  Estaljlishments,  that,  if  justice  is  refused  by  the 
king  to  one  of  his  vassals,  he  might  summon  his  own  tenants, 
under  penalty  of  forfeiting  their  liefs,  to  assist  him  in  obtain- 
ing redress  by  arms.*  Tiie  count  of  Britany,  Pierre  de 
Dreux,  had  practically  asserted  this  feudal  right  during  the 
minority  of  St.  Louis.  In  a  public  instrument  he  announced 
to  the  world,  that,  liaving  met  with  repeated  injuries  fiom  the 
regent,  and  denial  of  ju-tice,  he  had  let  the  king  know  that  he 


1  Crn(?.  1.  ii.  tit.  4.  tro  vous.     Si  la  reponse  est  quo  volon- 

5  Sect.  IxxxT.  tiers    il  fera   droit   en  sa  cour,  I'liommo 

'IlouarJ,  Anc.  I»ix   des   Fmn<;oifi,  p.  n"e.st  point  oblige  de  deforcr  i  la  requisi- 

114.     Sec  too  an  in^*tJinrcof  thi.i  reserva-  tion  du  sire;  mai.s  il  doit,  ou  le  sui^Te, 

tion    in   Recueil    des   l£istorien.t,    t.    xi.  on  lorefloudre  4  perdre  son  fief,  si  lo  ohef 

44".  8ei|.;iieur  persiste   diui.s  son   n-tus.     EtJi- 

*  SI    Ic   Hire    dlt    a   Bon    homme   li(?e,  blisseniens   cle  St.   Louis,  c.  4'.t.     I   have 

Vener  Toug  en  avec  nioi.  je  veux  Kucr-  copied  this  from  Velly,  t.  vi.  p.  21.3,  who 

rover    inon    Heij^neur,    qui    me    denie    le  has  niodiTiiized  the  ortlioi;rapliy,  which 

Jui;ement  de  iia   cour,  le  vassal   dolt  re-  Is  almost  unintellijrilile  in  the  Ordoiinan- 

pfuidre,  J'iral  »«ivoir   H"il  est  ainsi  quo  oes  des  Kois.     One  MS.  ifives  the  reading 

VOU.1  mc  dit«t.     Alors  il  doit  aller  trou-  Koi  instead  of   Srigii'-Hr.     And   the  law 

Tcr  le   superleur,   et   luy   din-.   Sire,    lo  certiiinly  applies  to  the  kiiiR 'J-'-'i'-wc/y; 

(CiMitilhomme  de   qui  y-  tlens  mon  flef  so  for,   in    cji.sc   of    denial    of  justice    hy    a 

pUiint    qui-  vous   lui   rv'fuM.z  justice  :  je  mesne   |f)rd,  there  was  an   appiMl   to  the 

Tieiis  |K»ur  en   sciivolr  la   veriti- ;  car  jo  kinif's  court,  but  from  his  injury  there 

sub  neiuouc^  Je  uiarcbcr  en  guerre  cou-  could  be  uo  api>eal  but  to  the  sword. 


170  FEUDAL  CEREMONIES.        Chap.  II.  Part  I. 

no  longer  considered  himself  as  his  vassal,  but  renounced  his 
homage  and  defied  liim.-^ 

The  ceremonies  used  in  conferring  a  fief  were  principally 
Ceremo-  thi'ee  —  homage,  fealty,  and  investiture.  1.  The 
nies  of—  first  was  designed  as  a  significant  expression  of 
'"  ■  the  submission  and  devotedness  of  the  vassal  tow- 
ards his  lord.  In  performing  homage,  his  head  was  uncov- 
ered, his  belt  ungirt,  his  sword  and  spurs  removed ;  he  placed 
his  hands,  kneeling,  between  those  of  the  lord,  and  promised 
to  become  his  man  from  thenceforward ;  to  serve  hmi  with 
life  and  limb  and  worldly  honor,  faithfully  and  loyally,  in 
consideration  of  the  lands  which  he  held  under  him.  None 
but  the  lord  in  person  could  accept  homage,  which  was  com- 
„  _,   ,^         monly  concluded  by  a  kiss.^     2.  An  oath  of  fealty 

2.  Fealty.  /  •'  ^   r     i     ^  ^i 

was  indispensable  m  every  net ;  but  the  ceremony 
was  less  peculiar  than  that  of  homage,  and  it  might  be  re- 
ceived by  proxy.  It  was  taken  by  ecclesiastics,  but  not  by 
minors ;  and  in  language  differed  little  from  the  form  of 

3.  Invest!-  homagc.^  3.  Investiture,  or  the  actual  conveyance 
ture.  q£  feudal  lands,  was  of  two  kinds ;  proper  and  im- 
proper. The  first  was  an  actual  putting  in  possession  upon 
the  ground,  either  by  the  lord  or  his  deputy ;  which  is  called, 
in  our  law,  livery  of  seisin.  The  second  was  symbolical, 
and  consisted  in  the  delivery  of  a  turf,  a  stone,  a  wand,  a 
branch,  or  whatever  else  might  have  been  made  usual  by 
the  caprice  of  local  custom.  Du  Cange  enumerates  not  less 
than  ninety-eight  varieties  of  investitures.* 

Upon  investiture,  the  duties  of  the  vassal  commenced. 
Obligations  Thcsc  it  is  impossible  to  define  or  enumerate ; 
of  a  vassal,  ijecausc  the  services  of  military  tenure,  which  is 
chiefly  to  be  considered,  were  in  their  nature  uncertain,  and 

1  Du  Cange,  Observations  sur  Join-  s.  85.  Assises  de  Jerusalem,  c.  204  ;  Crag, 
ville,  in  Collection  des  Memoires,  t.  i.  p.  1.  i.  tit.  11;  Recueil  des  Historiens,  t.  ii. 
196.  It  was  always  necessary  for  a  vassal  preface,  p.  174.  Houiagium  per  para- 
to  renounce  his  homage  before  lie  made  gium  was  unaccompanied  by  any  feudal 
war  on  his  lord,  if  he  woulil  avoid  the  obligation,  and  distinguished  from  ho- 
shame  and  penalty  of  feudal  treason,  niagium  ligeum,  which  carried  with  it  an 
After  a  reconcihation  the  homage  was  obligation  of  fidelity.  The  dukes  of  Nor- 
renewed.  And  in  this  no  distinction  was  mandy  rendered  only  homage  per  para- 
made  between  the  king  and  another  su-  gium  to  the  kings  of  France,  and  received 
perior.  Thus  Henry  H.  did  homage  to  the  like  from  the  dukes  of  Britauy.  lu 
the  king  of  France  in  1188,  having  re-  liege  homage  it  was  usual  to  make  rcser- 
nounced  his  former  obligation  to  hhn  at  vations  of  allegiance  to  the  king,  or  any 
the  commencement  of  the  preceding  war.  other  lord  whom  the  homager  had  previ- 
Mat.  Paris,  p.  12(j.  ously  acknowledged. 

■- Du  Cange,  Uominium,  and  Carpen-  ^Littl.  s.  91;  i)u  Cange,  voc.  Fidelitas. 

tier's   Supplement,  id.    voc.    Littleton,  *  Du  Cange,  voc.  luvestitura. 


Fecd.vl  System. 


MILITARY  SERVICE. 


171 


distuijruished  a^  such  from  those  incident  to  feuds  of  an  infe- 
rior description.  It  was  a  breacli  of  faith  to  divulge  the 
lord's  couusel,  to  conceal  from  him  the  maeliinations  of  othei's, 
to  injure  his  person  or  fortune,  or  to  violate  the  sanctity  of 
his  roof  and  the  honor  of  his  family.^  In  battle  he  was 
bound  to  lend  his  horse  to  his  lord,  when  dismounted ;  to 
adhere  to  liis  side,  while  tijrhting ;  and  to  go  into  captivity  as 
a  hostage  for  him.  when  taken.  His  attendance  was  due  to 
the  lord's  courts,  sometimes  to  witness,  and  sometunes  to 
bear  a  part  in,  the  administration  of  justice.^ 

The  measure,  however,  of  military  service  was  generally 
settled  bv  some  usage.     Forty  davs  was  the  usual  ^.   .,  ,. 

1      ■•  1  •    1      V  •    <■     'i      •    .    ?     ,•  Limitations 

term  durmg  whicli  tlie  tenant  ot  a  knights  lee  was  of  military 
bound  to  be  in  the  lield  at  his  own  expense.*    This  ^'^'''^'^^• 
was  exten(h'd  by  St.  Louis  to  sixty  days,  except  when  tlie 
charter  of  infeudation  expressed  a  shorter  period.     But  the 
length  of  service  diminished  with  the  quantity  of  land.     For 
half  a  knight's  fee  but  twenty  days  were  due ;  for  an  eighth 


'  A«si:ies  de  Jerusalem,  c.  265.  Home 
ne  doit  ^  la  feme  de  son  seiijneur,  ne  i  sa 
fiUe  requerre  vilninie  de  sou  cors,  ne  i  sa 
soeur  tdiit  com  tile  est  liemoiselle  en  son 
hostrl.  I  mention  this  part  of  feudal 
duty  on  account  of  the  li^rlit  it  throws  ou 
the  statute  of  treasons,  2')  E.  HI.  One 
of  the  treasons  therein  siiecified  is,  si 
onine  Tinlast  la  coiiipaitrne  le  roy,  ou 
ltii;iie  fiU  U  roy  nient  viarii  oa  la  coin- 
pai;^ue  lei^6  fitz  et  heire  le  roy.  Those 
who.  like  Sir  K.  Coke  and  the  modern 
lawyers  in  treneral.  explain  this  provision 
by  the  political  daiijicr  of  coufusini;  the 
royal  blood,  do  not  appn-heml  its  spirit. 
It  would  Ik.'  absurd,  upon  such  Krouiids, 
to  render  the  violation  of  the  killer's  eldest 
daU|;hter  treasonable,  so  lonj;  only  as  she 
remains  unman  ie<l,  when,  as  is  obvious, 
the  dantrer  of  a  spurious  issue  inheriting 
could  not  arise.  1  <'oiisider  this  provision 
then-fore  a.*  entlrt'ly  founded  upon  the 
feudiil  priiicipli'S.  which  make  it  a  breach 
of  faith  (that  is,  in  the  primary  sense  of 
the  word,  a  treason  I  to  sully  the  honor 
of  the  lorri  in  that  of  the  near  relations 
who  were  iinmeiliately  protected  by  resi- 
dence in  bin  house.  If  it  is  asked  why 
this  should  l>e  restrict*-*!  by  the  statute 
to  the  perifju  of  the  el. lest  il.'iu);hter,  I 
can  only  answer  tluit  this,  which  is  not 
more  rt-aw>nBlp|e  a^-cordiii);  to  the  coni- 
luoii  pohtiral  iiit<Tpn-tation.  is  analoKoug 
Ui  many  feudal  cu.-toms  in  our  own  and 
other  countries,  which  attribute  a  sort 
of  HU|M-riority  in  dignity  to  the  eldest 
ilaui{ht<-r. 


It  may  be  objected  that  in  the  reifjn  of 
Edward  III.  there  was  little  left  of  the 
feuilal  principle  in  any  part  of  Europe, 
and  least  of  all  in  England.  lUit  the 
stjitute  of  treasons  is  a  declaration  of  the 
ancient  law.  and  comprehends,  undoubt- 
edly, what  the  judj;cs  who  drew  it  could 
find  in  records  now  perished,  or  in  lepil 
traditions  of  remote  antiiiuity.  Similar 
causes  of  forfeiture  are  enumerated  iu 
the  Libri  Feudorum,  1.  i.  tit.  5.  and  1.  ii. 
tit.  24.  In  the  Establishments  of  St. 
Louis,  c.  51,  52.  it  is  said  that  a  lord 
seducing  his  va.ssal's  dau;j;hter  intrusted 
to  his  custody  lost  his  seif^uiory  ;  a  v;u«sal 
guilty  of  the  .same  crime  towards  the 
family  of  his  suzerain  forfeited  his  1,-ind. 
A  proof  of  the  tendency  which  the  feudal 
law  had  to  purify  public  morals,  and  to 
create  that  sense  of  indijjnation  anil  re- 
sentment with  which  we  now  regard 
such  breaches  of  liuiior. 

s  Assises  de  Jerusalem,  c.  222.  A  vas- 
sal, at  least  in  many  places,  was  bouiid 
to  reside  upon  his  fief,  or  not  to  iiuit  it 
without  the  lord's  con.-ient.  I)u  Cange, 
V(H-.  lUfSeantia,  Kemaueutia,  Itecueil  lies 
Uistoriens,  t.  xi.  preface,  p.  172. 

<<  In  the  kingdom  of  Jerusalem  feudal 
service  extended  to  a  year.  A.^sises  de 
Jerusalem,  c.  2.3IJ.  It  is  obvious  that 
this  was  foumled  on  the  |peculiar  ciit-uin- 
staiic<-s  of  that  state.  Service  of  castle 
guard,  which  wiui  common  in  the  north 
of  England,  was  iierformed  without  lim- 
itation of  lime,  bvttelton's  lleiirv  II. 
vol.  ii.  p.  184. 


172  MILITARY  SERVICE.  Chap.  II.  Pakt  I. 

part,  but  five ;  and  when  tliis  was  commuted  for  an  escuage 
or  pecuniary  assessment,  the  same  pi-oportion  was  observed.-^ 
Men  turned  of  sixty,  public  magistrates,  and,  of  course,  wo- 
men, were  free  from  personal  service,  but  obliged  to  send 
their  substitutes.  A  tailure  in  this  primary  duty  incurred 
perhaps  strictly  a  forfeiture  of  the  fief.  But  it  was  usual  for 
the  lord  to  inflict  an  amercement,  kno^vn  in  England  by  the 
name  of  escuage.^  Thus,  in  Philip  III.'s  expedition  against 
the  count  de  Foix  in  1274,  barons  were  assessed  for  their 
default  of  attendance  at  a  hundred  sous  a  day  for  the  ex- 
penses which  they  had  saved,  and  fifty  sous  as  a  fine  to  the 
king ;  bannerets,  at  twenty  sous  for  expenses,  and  ten  as  a 
fine ;  knights  and  squu'es  in  the  same  proportion.  But  ba- 
rons and  bannerets  were  bound  to  pay  an  additional  assess- 
ment for  every  knight  and  squire  of  their  vassals  whom  they 
ou2;ht  to  have  brouo-ht  with  them  mto  the  field.^  The  re^u- 
lations  as  to  the  place  of  service  were  less  uniform  than 
those  which  regarded  time.  In  some  places  the  vassal  was 
not  bound  to  go  beyond  the  lord's  territory,*  or  only  so  far  as 
that  he  might  return  the  same  day.  Other  customs  com- 
pelled him  to  follow  his   chief   upon  all  his  expeditions.^ 

1  Du    Cange,    voc.    Feudum    militis ;  I   have  ventured   to  assume  it  in   the 

Menibrum  LoricEe.     Stuart's  View  of  So-  text. 

ciety,  p.  382.     This  division  by  knight's  The  knight's  fee  was  fixed  in  England 

fees  is  perfectly  familiar  in  the   feudal  at  the  annual  value  of  20/.     Every  estate 

law  of  Euglaud.     But  I  must  confess  my  supposed  to  be  of  this  value,  and  entered 

inability  to  adduce  decisive  evidence  of  it  as  such  in  the  rolls  of  the  exchequer,  was 

in  that  of  France,  with  the  usual  excep-  bound    to   contribute   the  service   of    a 

tion  of   Normandy.     According  to   the  soldier.ortopay  an  escuage  to  the  amount 

natural  principle  of  fiefs,  it  might  seem  assessed  upon  knights'  fee. 

that  the  same  personal  service  would  be  2  Littleton,  1.  ii.  c.3;  Wright's  Tenures, 

required  from  the  tenant,  whatever  were  p.  121. 

the   extent  of   his  land.     AVilliam   the  3  Du   Chesne,  Script.   Rerum   Gallica- 

Conqueror,  it  is   said,    distributed   this  rum,  t.  v.  p.  553.     Daniel,  Histoire  de  la 

kingdom   into   about   60,000  parcels   of  Mihce  Francjoise,   p.  72.     The  following 

nearly  equal  value,  from  each  of  which  extracts  from  the  muster-roll  of  this  ex- 

the  service  of  a  soldier  was  due.    He  may  pedition  will   illustrate  the  varieties  of, 

possibly  have  been  the  inventor  of  this  feudal   obligations.     Johannes   d'Ormoy 

politic  arrangement.     Some  rule  must,  debet  servitium  per  quatuor   dies.     Jo- 

however,  have  been  observed  in  all  coun-  hannes  Malet  debet  servitium  per  viginti 

tries  in   fixing  the  amercement  for  ab-  die.s,  pro  quo  servitio  misit  Kichardum 

sence,  which  could  only  be  equitable  if  Tichet.     Guido  de  Laval  debet  sei-vitium 

it  bore  a  just  proportion  to  the  value  of  duorum  militum  et  dimidii.      Domiuus 

the  fief.  And  the  principle  of  the  knight's  Sabrandus  dictus  Chabot  dicit  quod  nou 

fee  was  so   convenient   and   reasonable,  debet  servitium  domino  regi,  nisi  in  co- 

that  it  is  likely  to  have  been  adopted  in  mitatu  Pictaviensi,  et  ad  sumptus  regis, 

imitation  of  England   by   other  feudal  tamen  venit  ad  preces  regis  cum  tribus 

countries.     In  the  roll  of  Philip  III.'s  militibus  et  duodecim  scutiferis.     Guido 

expedition,  as  will  appear  by  a  note  im-  de  Lusiguiaco  Dom.  de  Pierac  dicit,  quod 

mediately  below,  there  are,  I  think,  sev-  non  debet  ahquid  regi  prjeterhomagium. 

eral   presumptive  evidences  of  it ;   and  *  This  was  the  custom  of  Beauvoisis. 

though   this  is  rather  a  late    authori-  Beaumanoir,  c.  2. 

ty  to  establish  a   feudal   principle,  yet  6  Du  Cange,  et  Carpentier,  voc.  Hostis. 


Feudal  System.  FEUDAL  INGIDEXTS.  173 

These  iiK'onveiiient  aiul  varviui:  usaLa-"?  betrayed  the  urigiii 
of  the  feudal  obligations,  not  foiiuded  upon  any  national  pol- 
icy,  but  springing  from  the  chaos  of  anarchy  and  intestine 
war.  which  they  were  well  calculated  to  perpetuate.  For 
the  public  defence  their  machinery  was  totally  unserviceable, 
until  such  changes  were  wrought  as  destroyed  the  character 
of  the  fabric. 

Tudepindently  of  the  obligations  of  fealty  and  service, 
which  the  nature  of  the  contract  created,  other  Feiuiai 
advantages  were  derived  from  it  by  the  lord,  wliich  iucidents. 
have  been  called  ffudal  incidents:  these  were,  1.  Reliefs.  2. 
Fines  upon  alienation.  3.  Escheats.  4.  Aids ;  to  wliich 
may  be  added,  though  not  generally  established,  o.  AVaid- 
ship,  and  G.  3Iarriage. 

1.  Some  writers  have  accounted  for  Reliefs  in  the  follow- 
ing manner.  Benetices.  whether  depending  upon  j^^ugf^ 
the  crown  or  its  vassals,  were  not  originally  granted 
bv  way  of  absolute  inheritance,  but  renewed  frdin  time  to  time 
upon  the  death  of  the  ito^sessor,  till  long  custom  grew  up  into 
right.  Hence  a  sum  of  money,  something  between  a  price 
and  a  gratuity,  would  naturally  he  ottered  by  the  heir  on 
receiving  a  fresh  inve.-titure  of  the  lief;  and  length  of  time 
might  as  legitimately  turn  this  present  into  a  due  of  the  lord, 
as  it  rendered  the  inheritance  of  the  tenant  indefeasil>le. 
This  is  a  verv  specious  account  of  the  matter.  But  those 
who  consider  the  antiquity  to  which  hereditary  benetices  may 
be  traced,  and  the  unreserved  expressions  of  those  instru- 
ments by  which  tliey  were  created,  as  well  as  the  undoulUed 
fiict  that  a  large  })roportiou  of  liefs  had  been  absolute  alodial 
inheritances,  never  really  granted  by  the  superior,  will  i)er- 
haps  be  led  rather  to  look  for  the  origin  of  reliefs  in  that 
rapaeitv  with  which  the  powerful  are  ever  ready  to  opjiress 
tlie  feeble.  When  a  feudal  tenant  died,  the  lord,  taking  ad- 
vantage of  his  own  strength  and  the  confusion  of  the  family, 
would  seize  the  estate  into  his  hands,  either  l>y  the  right  of 
force,  or  under  some  litigious  pretext.  Against  this  violence 
the  lieir  could  in  general  have  no  resource  but  a  comitromise  ; 
and  we  know  liow  readily  acts  of  successful  injustice  change 
their  name,  and  move  demurely,  like  the  wolf  in  the  tiil)le, 
uufler  the-  clothing  of  law.  Reliefs  and  other  feudal  inci- 
denti?  are  sai<l  to  have  been  establisheil  in  France^  about  tht; 

1  Onloniuincw  dea  KoU  de  France,  t.  i.  prufiici-,  p.  10. 


174  FEUDAL  INCIDENTS.  Chap.  II.  Part  I. 

latter  part  of  the  tenth  century,  and  they  certainly  appear  in 
the  famous  edict  of  Conrad  the  Salic,  in  1037,  which  recognizes 
the  usage  of  presenting  horses  and  arms  to  the  lord  upon  a 
change  of  tenancy.^  But  this  also  subsisted  under  the  name 
of  heriot,  in  England,  as  early  as  the  reign  of  Canute. 

A  relief  was  a  sum  of  money  (unless  where  charter  or 
custom  introduced  a  ditferent  tribute)  due  from  every  one  of 
full  age,  taking  a  fief  by  descent.  This  was  in  some  countries 
arbitrary,  or  ad  misericordiam,  and  the  exactions  practised 
under  this  pretence  both  upon  superior  and  inferior  vassals 
ranked  amongst  the  greatest  abuses  of  the  feudal  policy. 
Henry  I.  of  England  promises  in  his  charter  that  they  shall  in 
future  be  just  and  reasonable  ;  but  the  rate  does  not  appear  to 
have  been  finally  settled  till  it  was  laid  down  in  Magna  Charta 
at  about  a  fourth  of  the  annual  value  of  the  fief.  We  find  also 
fixed  reliefs  among  the  old  customs  of  Normandy  and  Beau- 
voisis.  By  a  law  of  St.  Louis,  in  1245,^  the  lord  was 
entitled  to  enter  upon  the  lands,  if  the  heir  could  not  pay  the 
relief,  and  possess  them  for  a  year.  This  right  existed 
unconditionally  in  England  under  the  name  of  primer  seisin, 
but  was  confined  to  the  king.^ 

2.  Closely  connected  with  reliefs  were  the  fines  paid  to  the 
Fines  upon  lord  upon  the  alienation  of  his  vassal's  feud ;  and 
alienation,  indeed  we  frequently  find  them  called  by  the  same 
name.  The  spirit  of  feudal  tenure  established  so  intimate  a 
connection  between  the  two  parties  that  it  could  be  dissolved 
by  neither  without  requiring  the  other's  consent.  If  the  lord 
transferred  his  seigniory,  the  tenant  was  to  testify  his  concur- 
rence ;  and  this  ceremony  was  long  kept  up  in  England  under 
the  name  of  attornment.  The  assent  of  the  lord  to  his  vas- 
sal's alienation  was  still  more  essential,  and  more  difficult  to 
be  attained.  He  had  received  his  fief,  it  was  supposed,  for 
reasons  peculiar  to  himself,  or  to  his  family;  at  least  his 

1  Servato  usu  valvassorum  majorum  sion.  Coutumes  deBeauvoisis,  c.  27.  And 
in  tradendis  armis  equisque  suis  seniori-  this,  according  to  Du  Cange,  was  the 
bus.  This,  among  other  reasons,  leads  general  rule  in  the  customary  law  of 
me  to  doubt  the  received  opinion  that  France.  In  Anjou  and  Maine  they  were 
Italian  fiefs  were  not  hereditary  before  not  even  due  upon  succession  between 
the  promulgation  of  this  etlict.  brothers.  Ordonnances  des  Rois,  t.  i.  p. 
-  Ordonnances  des  IJois,  p.  55.  58.  And  M.  de  Pastoret,  in  his  valuable 
3  Du  Cange,  v.  Placitum,  Relevium,  preface  to  the  sixteenth  volume  of  that 
Sporla.  By  many  customs  a  relief  was  collection,  says  it  was  a  rule  that  the 
due  on  every  change  of  the  lord,  as  well  king  had  nothing  upon  lineal  succession 
as  of  the  vassal,  l5ut  tliis  was  not  the  of  a  fief,  whether  in  the  ascending  or  de- 
case  in  England.  Beaumont  speaks  of  sccuding  Wne^hnt  la  bouche  etles  'mains  ; 
reliefs  as  due  only  on  collateral  succes-  i.  e.  homage  and  fealty  :  p.  20. 


Feudal  System.      FINES   UPON  ALIENATION.  175 

heart  and  arm  were  bound  to  his  superior ;  and  his  service 
was  nut  to  be  exchanged  for  that  of  a  stranger,  wlio  might 
be  unable  or  unwillmg  to  render  it.  A  Uiw  of  Lothaire  II. 
in  Italy  forbids  the  alienation  of  tiefs  without  the  lord's  eon- 
sent.^  "  This  prohibition  is  repeated  in  one  of  Frederic  I., 
and  a  similar  enactment  wjxs  made  by  Roger  king  of  Sicily.'^ 
By  the  law  of  France  the  lord  was  entitled,  upon  every 
alienation  ma(h^  by  his  tenmit,  either  to  redeem  the  tief  by 
paving  the  purchase-money,  or  to  claim  a  certain  part  of  the 
value,  by  way  of  line,  upon  the  cliange  of  tenancy.^  In 
England' even  the  practice  of  subinfeudation,  which  w.as  more 
confonuable  to  the  law  of  tiefs  and  the  military  genius  of  the 
system,  but  injurious  to  the  suzerains,  who  lost  thereby  their 
escheats  and  other  advantages  of  seigniory,  was  checked  by 
Magna  Charta.*  and  forbidden  by  the  statute  18  Edward  I., 
called  Quia  Emjitorcs,  which  at  the  sjune  time  gave  the 
liberty  of  alienating  lands,  to  be  holden  of  the  grantor's  im- 
mediate lord.  The  tenants  of  the  crown  were  not  included 
in  this  act;  but  that  of  1  Edward  III.  c.  12,  enabled  them 
to  alienate,  upon  the  pajiuent  of  a  composition  into  chancery, 
which  was  tixed  at  one  third  of  the  annual  value  of  the 
lands.6 

These  restraints,  placed  for  the  lord's  advantage  upon  the 
transfer  of  feudal  property,  are  not  to  be  confounded  with 
those  designed  for  the  protection  of  heirs  and  preservation 

1  Lib.  Feudonim,  1.  U.  tit.  9  and  52.  ble  upon  the  oriBinal  principles  of  feudal 

Thi.s  wits  principallv  lovclled  at  the  prac-  tenure. 

tice  of  alienating  le'uiLil  property  in  favor        *  Dalrymple  8pem.«  to  suppo.se  that  the 

of    the  church,    which    wa.-i    cjillcl    pro  32<1  ohapt«.r  of  .Marina  Chartu  relates  to 

animl    jmljcare.      lUdevicus   in   Gf.stii*  alienation   ami   not    to   subinfeuilation. 

Fre.leric   I.  1.  iv.  c.7;  Lib.   Feud.  \.  i.  Ksgay  on  Foudal  Property,  edit.  1758.  p. 

tit.  7,  16.  I.  ii.  tit.  10.  83.     See  Sir  E.  Coke.  2  Inst.  p.  05,  501 ; 

s  Ojannone,  I.  ii.  c.  5.  and   Wright  on  Tenures,   contri.      Mr. 

»DuCan|fe.  V.  Keaccapitum,  Plaoitum,  Ilargrave  oh.serros  that  "  the  history  of 

Rachatum.    I'astoret,  preCiceau  wizit-me  our  law  with  respect  to  the  powers  of 

tfime  de.«  Ordonnance«,  p.  2<l :  Houaril,  alienation    before   the   statute   of   Quia 

Diet,  du   Droit    Noniiand,  art.   Fief  Ar-  Eniptorcs  terrarum  is  very  much  iiivolv- 

Rou,  limt.  du   Droit   Knmvois.  1.  ii.  c.  2.  od  in  ob.sourity."'     Notes  on  Co.  Lit.  43, 

In     Beaumanoir's   age    and     district     at  a.    In  (llanville's  time  apparently  a  man 

leHJit.  hUtiinfcuilntioii   witliout  the   lordn  could  only  alienate  (to  hold  of  himself ) 

license  incurn-d  a  forfeiture  of  the  land  ;  nitionahileni  partem  de  terrisua,  1.  vii.  c. 

and  hi«  reaKon   exu-uils  of  courw  more  1.     But  thi.s  may  have  liei'n  in  favor  of 

Htrongly    to    alieiuition.      Coiltumen   do  the  kindred  as  much  a.s  of  the  lord.  Dal- 

Iti-nuviiUix,  c.    2;    Vullv,  t.   vi.  p.   1h7.  rymple's  Essay,  ulii  supri. 
Hut.    by  the  (fpneral  law  of  feudjt.    the         It   is  probable  that  Coke  i.s  mistaken 

foniH-r  wrui    utrictlv   n'gular.  while   the  In  supposing  that  "  at  the  common  law 

ti-nant    ft>rfidU-<i    liii    lamj    by    the    lat-  the  tenant  might  liave  made  a  leotrment 

UT.      t'mig     nientionn    this    distinction  of  the  whole  tenancy  to  be  holden  of  the 

OA   one   for    which    he   ijt     |»erplexed  to  lord." 

arcount.    JuH  Feu.lnle,   1.  111.   tit.  3,   p.         4  2  Inst.  p.  Ofl ;  BLickstoneii  Coinmen- 

QiSi.     It  In,  bowcwr,  perfectly  intellit^-  taries,  vol.  11.  c.  0. 


176  FEUDAL    INCIDENTS  :  Chap.  II.  Part  I. 

of  families.  Such  were  the  jus  protimeseos  in  the  books  of 
the  tiefs/  and  retrait  lignager  of  the  French  law,  which  gave 
to  the  relations  of  the  vendor  a  preemption  upon  the  sale 
of  any  fief,  and  a  right  of  subsequent  redemption.  Such 
was  the  positive  prohiljition  of  alienating  a  fief  held  by  de- 
scent from  the  father  (feudum  paternum),  without  the  consent 
of  the  kindred  on  that  line.^  Such,  too,  were  the  still  more 
rigorous  fetters  imposed  by  the  English  statute  of  entails, 
which  precluded  all  lawful  alienation,  till,  after  two  centuries, 
it  was  overthrown  by  the  fictitious  process  of  a  common 
recovery.  Though  these  partake  in  some  measure  of  the 
feudal  spirit,  and  would  form  an  important  head  in  the  legal 
history  of  that  system,  it  will  be  sufficient  to  allude  to  them 
in  a  sketch  which  is  confined  to  the  development  of  its  polit- 
ical influence. 

A  custom  very  similar  in  effect  to  subinfeudation  was 
the  tenure  by  frerage,  which  prevailed  in  many  parts  of 
France.  Primogeniture,  in  that  extreme  which  our  com- 
mon law  has  established,  was  unknown,  I  believe,  in  every 
country  upon  the  Continent.  The  customs  of  France  found 
means  to  preserve  the  dignity  of  families,  and  the  indivisi- 
bility of  a  feudal  homage,  without  exposing  the  younger  sons 
of  a  gentleman  to  absolute  beggary  or  dependence.  Baronies, 
indeed,  were  not  divided ;  but  the  eldest  son  was  bound  to 
make  a  provision  in  money,  by  way  of  appanage,  for  the 
other  children,  in  proportion  to  his  circumstances  and  then' 
birth.^  As  to  inferior  fiefs,  in  many  places  an  equal  partition 
was  made ;  in  others,  the  eldest  took  the  chief  portion,  gen- 
erally two  thirds,  and  received  the  homage  of  his  brothers 
for  the  remaining  part,  which  they  divided.  To  the  lord  of 
whom  the  fief  was  held,  himself  did  homage  for  the  whole.* 
In  the  early  times  of  the  feudal  policy,  when  military  sei'- 
vice  was  the  great  object  of  the  relation  between  lord  and 

1  Lib.  Feud.  1.  v.  t.  13.  There  were  puisne,  et  si  doit  les  filles  marier.  Eta- 
analogics   to  this    jus  -porLfiTfaeuc   in     blissem.  de  St.  Louis,  c.  24. 

the  Roman  law,  and,  still  more  closely,         ^  This   was  also   the  law  of  Flanders 

in   the   constitutions   of  the   latter  By-  and    Hainault.       Martenne,   Thesaurus 

zantine  emperors.  Anecdotor,  t.  i.  p.l092.     The  customs  as 

2  Alieuatio  feuiii  paterni  non  valet  to  succession  were  exceediny;ly  various, 
etiam  domini  voluntate,  nisi  agnatis  con-  as  indeed  they  continued  to  be  until  the 
sentientibus.  Lib.  Feud,  apud  Wright  ^ate  generalization  of  French  law.  Re- 
on  Tenures,  p.  108,  156.  f^"eil  des  Histor.  t.  h.   preface,  p.  108 ; 

3  Du  Cange,  v.  Apanamentum,  Baro.  Hi*'-  ^le  Languedoc,  t.  ii  p.  Ill,  511. 
Baronie  ne  depart  mie  entre  freres  se  1°  'he  former  work  it  is  said  that  primo- 
leur  pere  ne  leur  a  fait  partie;  mes  li  geniture  was  introduced  by  the  Nor- 
ainsuez    doit    faire  aveuant  bienfet  au  mans  from  Scandinavia. 


Fecd-vl  System.  ESCHEATS— AIDS.  177 

vassal,  this,  like  till  other  subinfeudation,  was  rather  advan- 
tageous to  the  former ;  for  when  the  homage  of  a  tief  was 
divided,  the  service  was  diminished  in  proportion.  Suppose, 
for  example,  the  oblig-ation  of  military  attendance  for  an  entire 
manor  to  liave  been  forty  days ;  if  that  came  to  be  eijuiUly 
split  among  two,  each  would  owe  but  a  service  of  twenty. 
But  if,  instead  of  being  homagers  to  the  same  suzerain,  one 
tenant  held  inunediately  of  the  other,  as  every  feudatary 
m^ight  summon  the  aid  of  his  o\ni  vassals,  the  superior  lord 
would,  in  fact,  obtain  the  service  of  both.  Whatever  opposi- 
tion, therefore,  was  made  to  the  rights  of  subinfeudation  or 
frerage,  would  indicate  a  decay  in  tlie  military  character,  the 
living  principle  of  feudal  tenure.  Accordingly,  in  the  reign 
of  Philip  Augustus,  when  the  fabric  was  beginning  to  shake, 
we  find  a  confederate  agreement  of  some  principal  nobles 
sanctioned  by  the  king,  to  abrogate  the  mesne  tenure  of 
younger  brothers,  and  establish  an  immediate  dependence  of 
each  upon  the  superior  lord.^  Tiiis,  however,  was  not  uni- 
versally adopted,  and  the  original  frerage  subsisted  to  the  last 
in  some  of  the  customs  of  France.^ 

3.  As  fiefs  descended  but  to  the  posterity  of  the  first  taker, 
or  at  the  utmost  to  his  kindred,  they  necessarily  Escheats 
became  sometimes  vacant  for  want  of  heirs ;  es-  ana 
pecially  where,  as  in  England,  there  was  no  power  '°'^^®''*- 

of  devising  them  by  will.  In  this  case  it  was  obvious  that 
they  ought  to  revert  to  the  lord,  from  whose  property  they 
had  been  derived.  These  reversions  became  more  frequent 
through  the  forfeitures  occasioned  by  the  vassal's  delinquency, 
either  towards  his  superior  lord  or  the  state.  Various  cases 
are  laid  down  in  the  Assises  de  Jerusalem,  where  the  vassal 
fiirfeits  his  land  for  a  year,  for  his  life,  or  forever.'  But 
under  rapacious  kings,  such  as  the  Norman  line  in  England, 
absolute  forteitures  came  to  prevail,  and  a  new  doctrine  was 
introduced,  the  corruption  of  Idood,  by  which  the  heir  was 
effectnallv  excluded  from  deducing  his  title  at  any  distant 
time  tbivnigh  an  attainted  ancestor. 

4.  Itdiefs,  fines  upon  alienation,  and  escheats,  seem  to  be 
natural  reservations  in  th<'  lord's  l)ounty  to  hi>  vas- 

pal.      lie  hail  riglits  of  another  class  whicii   j)rinci- 

pally  arose  out  of  fealty  and  intimate  attacliment.    Siicli  were 

•  Oploiitinnrcd  (IfN  IlniH,  t.  i.  p.  2tt. 

*  1)11  CiiiiKi-,  UifBvrt.  III.   sur  .loiiivillc  :  Ilciiuumn.  c.  4". 

VOL.    I.  12 


178  FEUDAL  INCIDENTS.  Chap.  II.  Part  I. 

the  aids  which  he  was  entitled  to  call  for  in  certain  prescribed 
circumstances.  These  depended  a  great  deal  upon  local  cus- 
tom, and  were  often  extorted  unreasonably.  Du  Cange  men- 
tions several  as  having  existed  in  France ;  such  as  an  aid  for 
the  lord's  expedition  to  the  Holy  Land,  for  marrying  his  sister 
or  eldest  son,  and  for  paying  a  relief  to  his  suzerain  on  taking 
possession  of  his  land.^  Of  these,  the  last  appears  to  have 
been  the  most  usual  in  England.  But  this,  and  other  aids 
occasionally  exacted  by  the  lords,  were  felt  as  a  severe 
grievance ;  and  by  Magna  Charta  three  only  are  retained ; 
to  make  the  lord's  eldest  son  a  knight,  to  marry  his  eldest 
daughter,  and  to  redeem  his  person  from  prison.  They  were 
restricted  to  nearly  the  same  description  by  a  law  of  William 
I.  of  Sicily,  and  by  the  customs  of  France.^  These  feudal 
aids  are  deserving  of  our  attention,  as  the  beginnings  of  tax- 
ation, of  which  for  a  long  time  they  in  a  great  measure 
answered  the  purpose,  till  the  craving  necessities  and  covetous 
policy  of  kings  substituted  for  them  more  durable  and  onerous 
burdens. 

I  might  here,  perhaps,  close  the  enumeration  of  feudal 
incidents,  but  that  the  two  remaining,  wardship  and  marriage, 
though  only  partial  customs,  were  those  of  our  own  country, 
and  tend  to  illustrate  the  rapacious  character  of  a  feudal  aris- 
tocracy. 

5.  In  England,  and  in  Normandy,  which  either  led  the 
.  way  to,  or  adopted,  all  these  English  institutions, 
the  lord  had  the  wardship  of  his  tenant  during 
minority.^  By  virtue  of  this  right  he  had  both  the  care  of  his 
person  and  received  to  his  own  use  the  profits  of  the  estate. 
There  is  something  in  this  custom  very  conformable  to  the 
feudal  spirit,  since  none  was  so  fit  as  the  lord  to  train  up  his 
vassal  to  arms,  and  none  could  put  in  so  good  a  claim  to  enjoy 
the  fief,  while  the  military  service  for  which  it  had  been 
granted  was  suspended.  This  privilege  of  guardianship  seems 
to  have  been  enjoyed  by  the  lord  in  some  parts  of  Germany ;  * 
but  in  the  law  of  France  the  custody  of  the  land  was  intrusted 
to  the  next  heir,  and  that  of  the  person,  as  in  socage  tenures 
among  us,  to  the  nearest  kindred  of  that  blood  which  could 

1  Du  Cange,  voc.  Auxilium.  162;  Argou,  Inst,  au  Droit  Francois,  1.  i. 

2  Giannone,  1.  xii.  c.  5;  Velly,  t.  vi.  p.     c.  6;  Ilouard,  Anciennes  Loix  des  Fran- 
200 ;  Ordonnances  des  Rois,  t.  i.  p.  138,  t.    ^ois,  t.  i.  p.  147. 

xvi.  preface.  ■*  Schilter,  Institutiones  Juris  Feudalis, 

8  Becueil  des  Historiens,  t.  si.  pref.  p.     p.  85. 


Feudal  System.        WARDSHIP  — MAIMUAC.E. 


179 


not  inherit.^  By  a  gi-o?s  abuse  of  this  custom  in  England,  the 
right  of  guardianship  in  ohivah-v,  or  tenijiorary  j)Osses8ion  (if 
tht-'  hinds,  w;ls  assigned  over  to  strangers.  Tliis  was  one  of 
the  most  vexatious  parts  of  our  feudal  tenures,  and  was  never, 
perhaps,  more  sorely  felt  than  in  their  last  stage  under  the 
Tudor  and  Stuart  tamilies. 

G.  Another  right  given  to  the  lord  by  the  Norman  and 
English  laws,  was  that  of  marriage,  or  of  tendering  y^^^.^^  ^ 
a  Imsliand  to  his  female  wards  while  under  age, 
whom  they  could  not  reject  without  forfeiting  the  value  of  the 
marriage  ;  that  is,  as  much  as  any  one  would  give  to  the 
iruardian  for  such  an  alliance.  This  was  afterwards  extendi  d 
to  male  wards,  and  liecaine  a  very  lucrative  source  ot  extor- 
tion to  the  crown,  as  well  as  to  mesne  lords.  This  custom 
seems  to  have  had  the  same  extent  as  that  of  wards]ii[)s.  It 
is  found  in  the  ancient  books  of  Germany,  but  not  of  France.- 
The  kings,  however,  and  even  inferior  lords,  of  that  country, 
required  their  consent  to  be  solicited  for  the  marriage  of  their 
vassals'  daughters.  Several  proofs  of  this  occur  in  the  history 
as  Well  as  in  the  laws  of  Fi-ance  ;  and  the  same  prerogative 
existed   in    Germany,   Sicily,  and   England.*     A  still  more 


1  Du  Cange,  t.  Custodia ;  Assises  de 
Jiriisjilem,  o.  178;  Etablisseuietis  de  St. 
Loiii-".  c.  IT  :  Beaiim.'inoir,  c.  15  ;  Arcou, 
1.  i.  0. 6.  The  second  of  tliese  uses  nearly 
the  sjinie  expression  as  Sir  .John  Kortescue 
in  acoouiitini:  for  the  exclusion  of  the 
next  lieir  from  guardlinsliip  of  the  per- 
imn :  that  niauvaise  convoitise  li  iairoit 
&in-  la  garde  du  loup. 

I  know  not  any  mistake  more  usual  in 
English  writers  who  have  tn«tecl  of  the 
feii'lal  law  than  tliiit  of  supposinj;  that 
guardianship  in  chivalry  was  an  univer- 
8al  custom.  A  charter  of  1198.  in  Kymer, 
t.  i.  p.  10.5,  seems  indeed  to  imply  that 
the  incident"  of  garde  noble  and  of  mar- 
riiige  existed  in  the  Isle  of  Oleron.  Hut 
Eleanor,  by  a  later  instriinieiit.  gnint^i 
that  the  infiabitants  of  that  island  should 
have  the  wardship  and  marriage  of  their 
heirs  without  any  interimsitioti,  ami  ex- 
I>n'««ly  abrogates  all  the  evil  customs 
that  her  husband  had  iiitroilurtil :  p.  112. 
From  hence  I  should  infer  that  Henry  II. 
bad  end«ivore<l  ti>  imiKWe  these  feuilal 
bunleim  (which  |«rhaps  wen'  then  new 
even  in  Engbindi  upon  his  continental 
dominions.  Iladulphus  de  Diceto  tells  us 
of  a  claim  maili-  by  him  to  the  warlship 
of  Cliateauroiix  in  Herry.  whii'h  could 
not  legally  luiTc  hi-vn  subject  to  rhat 
cuittom.    Twyikloa,  X  Scriptoreit,  p.  6W. 


And  he  set  up  pretensions  to  tlie  custody 
of  the  duchy  of  Britauy  after  the  death 
of  his  son  Oeoffrey.  Tliis  might  perhaps 
be  justified  by  the  law  of  Normandy,  on 
which  Britany  depended.  Hut  I'hilip 
Augustus  ma<le  a  similar  claim.  In  fact, 
these  political  assertions  of  right,  prompt- 
ed by  ambition  and  supjiorted  by  force, 
are  ijyd  precedents  to  establish  rules  of 
jurisprudence.  Both  I'hilip  and  Henry 
were  abundantly  dispo.«ed  to  realize  so 
convenient  a  )jrerogative  as  thtit  of  guar- 
dianship in  chivalry  over  the  fiefc  of  their 
vassals.  Lyttleton's  Uenry  II.  vol.  iii.  p. 
441. 

•  Schilter.  ubi  supri.  Du  Cange,  voc. 
Disparagare,  seems  to  admit  this  feudal 
right  in  Knince ;  but  the  pas.sages  he 
quotes  do  not  sup|>ort  it.  See  al.so  the 
wore!  Maritagium.  (M.  (iui/ot  has  how- 
ever observed  (Hist,  de  la  Civilisation  en 
France,  Ix\oii  3!t)  that  the  feudal  inci- 
dents of  guardianship  in  chivalry  by 
marriage  were  more  fn'iiuent  than  I  seem 
U>  suppose.  The  customary  law  was  so 
variable,  that  it  is  ilangcrous  to  rely  on 
particular  instJinces,  or  to  found  a  gen- 
eral negative  on  their  absence.     1S4K.J 

3  Ordonnances  des  Hois,  t.  i.  p.  LV)  ; 
Assises  de  .brus.  c.  1H(I,  Hn<l  Thau- 
massiere's  n<ite;  Du  Cange,  ubi  suprAj 
GUinvU,  1.  vii.  c.  VI:  Olanmme,  I.  .xl.  c 


180  FEUDAL  INCIDENTS.        Chap.  II.  Part  I. 

remarkable  law  prevailed  in  the  kingdom  of  Jerusalem.  The 
lord  might  summon  any  female  vassal  to  accept  one  of  three 
whom  lie  should  propose  as  her  husband.  No  other  condition 
seems  to  have  been  imposed  on  him  in  selecting  these  suitors 
than  that  they  should  be  of  equal  rank  with  herself.  Neither 
the  maiden's  coyness  nor  the  widow's  aiSiction,  neither  aver- 
sion to  the  proffered  candidates  nor  love  to  one  more  favored, 
seem  to  have  passed  as  legitimate  excuses.  One,  only  one 
plea,  could  come  from  the  lady's  mouth  who  was  resolute  to 
hold  her  land  in  single  blessedness.  It  was,  that  she  was  past 
sixty  years  of  age ;  and  after  this  unwelcome  confession  it  is 
justly  argued  by  the  author  of  the  law-book  which  I  quote, 
that  tlie  lord  could  not  decently  press  her  into  matrimony.-' 
However  outrageous  such  an  usage  may  appear  to  our  ideas, 
it  is  to  be  recollected  that  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  that 
little  state  rendered  it  indispensable  to  possess  in  every  fief  a 
proper  vassal  to  fulfil  the  duties  of  war. 

These  feudal  servitudes  distinguish  the  maturity  of  the 
system.  No  trace  of  them  appears  in  the  capitulai-ies  of 
Charlemagne  and  his  fixmily,  nor  in  the  instruments  by  which 
benefices  were  granted.  I  believe  that  they  did  not  make 
part  of  the  regular  feudal  law  before  the  eleventh,  or,  per- 
haps, the  twelfth  century,  though  doubtless  ^lartial  usages 
of  this  kind  had  grown  up  antecedently  to  either  of  those 
periods.  If  I  am  not  mistaken,  no  allusion  occurs  to  the 
lucrative  rights  of  seigniory  in  the  Assises  de  Jerusalem, 
which  are  a  monument  of  French  usaijes  in  the  eleventh 
century.  Indeed,  that  very  general  commutation  of  alodial 
property  into  tenure  which  took  place  between  the  middle  of 
the  ninth  and  eleventh  centuries  would  hardly  have  been 
effected  if  fiefs  had  then  been  liable  to  such  burdens  and 
so  much  extortion.  In  half-barbarous  ao-es  the  strong  are 
constantly  encroaching  upon  the  weak  ;  a  truth  which,  if  it 
needed  illustration,  might  find  it  in  the  progress  of  the  feudal 
system. 

We  have  thus  far  confined  our  inquiry  to  fiefs  holden  on 
terms  of  military  service ;  since  those  are  the  most  ancient 

5 ;  Wright  on  Tenures,  p.  94.  St.  Louis  lord  not  to  marry  her  without  his  con- 
in  return  declared  that  he  would  not  sent.  Etablissemens  de  St.  Louis,  c.  63. 
marry  his  own  daughter  without  the  i  Ass.  de  .Jerus.  c.  224.  I  must  observe 
consent  of  his  barons.  Joinville,  t.  ii.  p.  that  Lauriere  says  this  usage  prevailed 
140.  Henry  I.  of  England  had  promised  en  plusieurs  lieux,  though  he  quotes  no 
the  same.  The  guardian  of  a  female  authority.  —  Ordounances  des  Rois,  p. 
minor  was  obliged  to  give  security  to  her  155. 


Fkl-dal  System.    PROPER  AXO   IMPROPER  FEUDS.  181 

ami  roLHilar.  as  well  a-  tlio  mo.«t  consonant  to  the  y,^^^^^^_^,  ,^^^j 
jipirit  ottlie  .-ivsteiu.  Tlit-y  alone  were  calk'il  projxT  impmiKr 
feuds,  and  all  were  presumed  to  be  of  this  descrip- 
tion until  the  contrary  was  i)roved  by  the  charter  of  investi- 
ture. A  proper  feutl  was  bestowed  without  price,  without 
fixed  stijiulation,  upon  a  vassal  capable  of  servinjr  personally 
in  the  tielil.  But  •rradually,  with  the  help  of  a  little  legal  in- 
freiniity,  inipi'oper  tiefs  of  the  most  various  kinds  were  intnj- 
duced,  retaininir  little  of  the  characteristics,  and  less  of  the 
spirit,  which  distinguished  the  original  tenures.  AVomen,  if 
indeed  that  were  an  iiniovation.  were  admitted  to  inli<'rit 
them ;  ^  they  were  granted  for  a  j)rice,  and  without  reference 
to  military  service.  Tlie  language  of  the  feudal  law  was 
applied  by  a  kind  of  metaphor  to  almost  every  transfer  of 
property.  Hence  pensions  of  money  and  allowances  of  pro- 
visions, however  remote  from  right  notions  of  a  lief  were 
sometimes  granted  under  that  name ;  and  even  where  land 
was  the  subject  of  the  donation,  its  conditions  were  often 
lucrative,  often  honorary,  and  sometimes  ludicrous.'^ 

There  is  one  extensive  species  of  feudal  tenure  which  may 
be  distinctly  noticed.  The  prid(^  of  wealth  in  the  y;^f^  ^f 
midiUe  ages  was  principally  exhibited  in  a  multi-  office. 
tude  of  dependents.  Th«;  court  of  Charlemagne  was  crowded 
with  officers  of  every  rank,  some  of  the  most  eminent  of 
wiiom  exercised  functions  about  the  royal  person  which  would 
have  been  thought  tit  only  lor  slaves  in  the  palace  of  Augus- 
tus or  Antonine.  The  freeborn  Franks  saw  nothing  menial 
in  the  titles  of  cup-bearer,  steward,  marshal,  and  master  of 
the  horse,  which  are  still  Itorne  l)y  the  noblest  families  in 
many  parts  of  Europe,  and.  till  lately,  by  sovereign  ])rinces 
in  the  empire.'  From  the  court  of  the  king  this  favorite 
piece  of  magnificence  descended  to  those  of  the  prelates  and 

1  Women  ili'l  not   inliorit  fic-fH  In   the  the  king  stipulates  to  pay  annually  4iHt 

(iennan    enipiro.      Whether    they    were  marks  of  silver,  in  ffoito,  for  the  niili-. 

ever  exoluileil  from  suececsion  in  France  Uiry  service  of  his  ally.     Rynier,  Foede- 

1   know  not:    the  genius  of  ii   militiiry  ra,  t.  i.  p.  2. 

tenure,  nnil  the  o|.|  Teutonic  cust^inis,        •■<  The  count  of  Anjou.  umler  I.oui'' VI., 

pn-iwrre*!  In  the  Salic  law,  sei-ni  ailverse  claimed  the  office  of  (treat  Si^neschal  of 

to  their  II  tpf  feudal  land*:  yet  France;    that  is,   to  carry  dishes  ti>   the 

the  pm  i«t  friini   the  elevenlh  king's   tat)le  on  stjite  days.      (Si.sniondi, 

eentur.N     iMmnM.nla,   doeil    not   support  v.    \'.i.').)      Thus    the    feudal    nnlions    of 

tiie  theorv.  grand  serjeanty  prepared  thi'  way  for  tlio 

sCnig.'.lus  Keu.lftle.  1.  1.  tit.   10;   Du  restonition  of   royiil    supremacy,  as   the 

Cange,  voc.  Keudum  Ar  I'luneri,  kr.    In  niilitary  t^'tiun-s   had  impairol  it.     The 

the  tn-aty  U-tween   Heiirv  I.  of  Kugland  wnuml  ami   thi'  remecly  came  from    the 

aiid  iUjtjcrt  count  of  Klandem,  A.D.  1101,  same  Uincc.     If  the  fuudjil  system  wan 


182  FIEFS  OF  OFFICE.  Chap.  II.  Part  I. 

barons,  wlio  siuTounded  themselves  with  household  officers 
called  miuisterials ;  a  name  equally  applied  to  those  of  a  ser- 
vile and  of  a  liberal  description.'-  The  latter  of  these  were  re- 
warded with  grants  of  lands,  which  they  held  under  a  feudal 
tenure  by  the  condition  of  performing  some  domestic  service 
to  the  lord.  What  was  called  in  our  law  grand  serjeanty 
afibrds  an  instance  of  this  species  of  fief.^  It  is,  however,  an 
instance  of  the  noblest  kind ;  but  Muratori  has  given  abun- 
dance of  proofs  that  the  commonest  mechanical  arts  were  car- 
ried on  in  the  houses  of  the  great  by  persons  receiving  lands 
upon  those  conditions.^ 

These  imperfect  feuds,  however,  belong  more  properly  to 
the  history  of  law,  and  are  chiefly  noticed  in  the  present 
sketch  because  they  attest  the  partiality  manifested  during 
the  middle  ages  to  the  name  and  form  of  a  feudal  tenure. 
In  the  regular  military  fief  we  see  the  real  principle  of  the 
system,  which  might  originally  have  been  defined  an  alliance 
of  free  landholders  arranged  in  degrees  of  subordination, 
according  to  their  respective  capacities  of  affordmg  mutual 
support. 

The  peculiar  and  varied  attributes  of  feudal  tenures  natu- 
Feudai  law-  rally  gave  rise  to  a  new  jurisprudence,  regulating 
iDooks.  territorial  I'ights  in  those  parts  of  Europe  which 

had  adopted  the  system.  For  a  length  of  time  this  rested  in 
traditionary  customs,  observed  in  the  domains  of  each  prince 
or  lord,  Avithout  much  resrard  to  those  of  liis  neighbors. 
Laws  were  made  occasionally  by  the  emperor  in  Gemiany 
and  Italy,  which  tended  to  fix  the  usages  of  those  countries. 
About  the  year  1170,  Girard  and  Obertus,  two  Milanese 
lawyers,  published  two  books  of  the  law  of  fiefs,  which  ob- 
tained a  great  authority,  and  have  been  regarded  as  the 
groundwork  of  that  jurisprudence.'*  A  number  of  subse- 
quent commentators  swelled  this  code  with  their  glosses  and 

.incompatible  with  despotism,  and  even,  proper  person  to  tlie  king,  as  to  carry 

while   in  its  full  Tigor,  with   legitimate  the  banner  of  the  king,  or  his  lance,  or 

authority,  it  kept  alive  the  sense  of  a  to  lead  his  array,  or  to  be  his  marshal, 

supreme  chief,  of  a  superiority  of  rank,  or  to  carry  his  sword  before  him  at  his 

of  a  certJ^in  subjection  to  an  hereditary  coronation,  or  to  be  his  sewer  at  his  cor- 

sovereign,  not  yet  testified  by  unlimited  onation,  or  his  carver,  or  his  butler,  or 

obedience,  but  by  homage  and  loyalty.  to  be  one  of  his  chamberlains  at  the  re- 

1  Schmidt,  Hist,  des  AUeinands,  t.  iii.  ceipt  of  his  exchequer,  or  to  do  other 
p.  92;  Du  Cange,  v.  Familia,  Ministeriales.  like  services."     Sect.  153. 

2  •' This   tenure,"'  says   Littleton,  "is  3  Autiq.  Ital.  Dissert.  11,  ad  finem. 
where  a  man  holds  his  lands   or  tene-  *  (Jiannone,  1st.  di  Napoh,  1.  xiii.  c.  3. 
ments  of  our  sovereign  lord  the  king  by  The  Libri  Feudorum  are  printed  in  most 
such  services  as  he  ought  to  do  in  his  editions  of  the  Corpus  Juris  Civllis. 


Feudal  System.  FEUDAL  LAW-BOOKS.  183 

Opinion.*,  to  enlighten  or  ob.^ciire  the  judnmcnt  of  the  imperial 
tribuniils.  These  were  ehiefiy  civilians  or  canonists,  who 
brought  to  the  interpretation  of  old  barbaric  customs  the 
principles  of  a  very  different  school.  Hence  a  manifest 
change  wivs  wrought  in  the  law  of  feudal  tenure,  which  they 
as>iuiilaled  to  the  usufruct  or  the  emphyteusis  of  the  Roman 
code  ;  modes  of  property  somewhat  analogous  in  appearance, 
but  totally  di>tinct  in  jirinciple,  from  the  legitimate  fief. 
These  Lombard  lawyers  i)ropagated  a  doctrine  which  has 
been  too  readily  received,  that  the  feudal  system  originated 
in  their  country ;  and  some  writers  upon  jurisprudence,  such 
as  Duck  and  Sir  .lames  Craig,  incline  to  give  a  preponder- 
ating authority  to  tlieir  code.  But  whatever  weight  it  may 
have  possessed  within  the  limits  of  the  empire,  a  different 
guide  must  be  followed  in  the  ancient  customs  of  France  and 
Enghuiil.^  Tlie.-<e  were  fresli  from  tlic  fountain  of  that  curi- 
ous polity  with  which  the  stream  of  Roman  law  had  never 
miufrled  its  waters.  In  Enjrland  we  know  that  the  Norman 
system  established  between  the  Con(iuest  and  the  reign  of 
Henry  II.  was  restrained  by  regular  legislation,  by  paramount 
courts  of  justice,  and  by  learned  writings,  from  breaking  into 
discordant  local  usages,  except  in  a  comj)aratively  small  num- 
ber of  places,  and  has  become  the  i)rincii)al  source  of  our 
common  law.  But  the  independence  of  the  French  nobles 
prodiiciMl  a  much  greater  variety  of  customs.  The  whole 
number  collected  and  reduced  to  certainty  in  the  sixteenth 
century,  amounted  to  two  hundred  and  eighty-five,  or,  omit- 
ting tliose  inconsiderable  for  extent  or  peculiarity,  to  sixty. 
Tiie  earliest  written  customary  in  France  is  that  of  Beam, 
which  is  said  to  have  been  contirmed  by  Viscount  Gaston  IV. 
in  1088.*  iNIany  others  were  written  in  the  two  subsequent 
ages,  of  which  the  customs  of  Beauvoi.sis,  compiled  1>y  Beau- 

1  ftiannone    explicitly    cnntrasta    the  lislipd  with  a  fresh  title-pnpre  and  por- 

Fn-nch    anJ    I^oinlmrJ    lawn   redppotini?  niispion  of  Henry  IV.  in  1602  ;  the  otlitT 

fli-fii.     The  lntt<T  wjid  the  foundation  of  at  l^srar.><,  in  1(^33.     The.^^e  laws,  w*  wu 

the    I.iliri    Feudornni.   and    fonned   the  rend  them,  are  subsequent  to  a  revision 

common  law  of  Italy.     The  former  wa."!  made  in  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  ccn- 

intrfxluro<l  by   Kofjer  (iuismrd  into  his  tury  in   which   they  were  more  or  \cnif 

dominions.  In   thre<'  boolct  of  constitu-  corrected.     The   hauls,   however,   is    un- 

tiona,  print*-"!  in    l.indebro({"»  collection,  quostioiiably    very    ancient.       We    evi'U 

There  wern  wvernl  mnterial  differences,  find    the  composition   for  homicide  pn-- 

which    <iiiinnone   enumeniti-s,  es|M'eially  served  in  tliciu,  so  that  nmrdiT  was  not 

the   Norman   custom   of   primo|;euiture.  a  capital  offence  in   Iteiirn.  though  rob- 

liit.  di  -N'ap.  I.  xl.  c.  5.  ),cry  was  such.  —  Kuljricii   ile  llondcidis, 

'  There  are  two  edlllonn  of  thin  curlouB  Art.  xxxi.     See   too   Hubrica  de    I'u'uls, 

old  code;  one  at  I'au,  in  1562,  ropub-  Art.  i.  and  il. 


184  FEUDAL  LAW-BOOKS.  Chap.  H.  Part  I. 

manoir  under  Philip  III.,  are  the  most  celebrated,  and  con- 
tain a  mass  of  intbrmation  on  the  feudal  constitution  and 
manners.  Under  Charles  VII.  an  ordinance  was  made  for 
the  formation  of  a  general  code  of  customary  law,  by  ascer- 
taining forever  in  a  written  collection  those  of  each  district ; 
but  the  work  was  not  completed  till  the  reign  of  Charles  IX. 
This  was  what  may  be  called  the  common  law  of  the  pays 
coutumiers,  or  northern  division  of  France,  and  the  rule  of 
all  their  tribunals,  unless  where  controlled  by  royal  edicts. 


Feudal  System.      ANALYSIS  OF  FEUDAL  SYSTEM.  185 


TART   II. 

Analy-sis  of  the  Fi-mlal  System  — Its  local  Extent  — Viow  of  tlio  ilifFerent  Orders  of 
:^<x•iety  diirinff  the  Veiuial  A^es  — Noliility  —  their  Kaiiks  ami  Privileges  — 
Clergy  —  Kreeiiieu  —  Serfs  or  Villeins  —  Coui|iurative  State  of  Fnince  ami  Uer- 
mauy  —  Privileges  enjoyed  by  the  French  Vassals  —  l{i>;ht  of  eoinini;  Money  — 
and  of  private  War — Immunity  from  Taxation  —  Historical  View  of  the  Uoyal 
Revenue  in  France  —  Methods  adopted  to  aujinient  it  by  Depn^eiation  of  the 
Coin,  &c.  —  Ivi'jrislative  Power  —  its  State  under  the  Merovin^rian  Kings,  and 
Charlemagne  —  His  Councils  —  Suspension  of  any  genenil  Legislative  Authority 
during  the  Prevalence  of  Feudal  Principles  —  the  King's  Council — Means 
ailopted  to  supply  the  Want  of  a  National  Assembly  —  Omdual  Progress  of  the 
King's  Lt-gislative  Power  —  Philip  IV.  assembles  the  Stjifes-Oeuenil  —  Their 
Powers  limited  to  Taxation  —  St;ites  under  the  Sons  of  Philip  IV.  —  States  of 
13oo  and  135*)  —  They  nearly  effect  an  entire  Kevolutiou  —  The  Crown  recovers 
its  Vigor  —  States  of  138l>,  under  Charles  VI.  —  Subseiiuent  Assemblies  under 
Charles  VI.  and  Charles  VII.  — Tiie  Crown  becomes  more  and  move  absolute  — 
Louis  XI.  —  States  of  Tours  in  1484  —  Historical  View  of  Jurisdiction  in  Fmnce 

—  Its  earliest  StJige  under  the  first  Kacc  of  Kings,  and  Charlemagne  —  Territorial 
Jurisdictiou—  Feudal  Courts  of  .lustice  —  Trial  by  Combat  —  Code  of  St.  l,ouis 

—  The  Territorial  .lurisdictions  give  way — Progress  of  the  .Judicial  Power  of 
the  Crown  —  Parliament  of  Paris  —  Peers  of  France  —  Increased  Authority  of 
the  Parliament  —  Kegistration  of  Etlict«  —  Causes  of  the  Decline  of  the  Feudal 
System  —  Acquisitions  of  Domain  by  the  Crown  —  Charters  of  Incorporation 
(granted  to  Towns — Their  previous  Condition  —  First  Charters  in  the  Twelfth 
Century  —  Privileges  contiiined  in  them  —  Military  Service  of  Feudal  Tenants 
commuted  for  Jloney  —  lliifd  Troops  —  Change  in  the  Military  System  of  Europe 

—  Ueueral  View  of  the  Advantages  and  Disiidvautages  attending  the  Feudal 
System. 

The  advocates  of  a  Roman  orif2;in  for  most  of  the  institu- 
tions which  we  find  in  the  kingdoms  erected  on  tlie  ruins  of 
the  emitirc  are  naturally  i)ronc  to  magnify  the  analogies  to 
feudal  tenure  which  Iviine  presents  to  us,  and  even  to  deduce 
it  either  fi'om  the  ancient  relation  of  patron  and  client,  and 
that  of  per.<onal  commendation,  which  was  its  rejUH-sentative  in 
a  later  age,  or  from  the  trontier  lands  granted  in  the  third 
century  to  the  Livti,  or  harharian  soldiers,  who  held  them, 
douhtless,  suliject  to  a  condition  of  military  service.  The 
usage  of  commnuldfion  especiallv,  so  frequent  in  the  fifth 
ccntuiy,  hcfort'  the  contjuest  of  Gaul,  a,-;  well  as  afterwards, 
iloes  certainly  hr-ar  a  strong  analogy  to  vassalage,  and  I  have 
already  pointed  it  out  as  one  of  its  sources.  It  wanted,  how- 
ever, that  definite  ndation  to  the  tenure  of  huid  whieh  di.-<- 
tingui.sheil  the  latter.  The  royal  Antrustio  (whether  the 
word  coiiuiii'ikIoIiis  were  a{)|)lied  to  him  or  not)  stood  I)oiiiid 
by  gratituile  and  loyalty  to  his  .sovereign,  an<l  in  a  very  diller- 


186  ANALYSIS  OF  FEUDAL  SYSTEM.  Chap.  II.  Paet  II 

ent  degree  from  a  common  subject ;  but  he  was  not  perhaps 
strictly  a  vassal  till  he  had  received  a  territorial  benefice.-'- 
The  complexity  of  subinfeudation  could  have  no  analogy  in 
commendation.  The  grants  to  veterans  and  to  the  Lteti  are 
so  far  only  analogous  to  fiefs,  that  they  established  the  jDrin- 
ciple  of  holding  lands  on  a  condition  of  military  service.  But 
this  service  was  no  more  than  what,  both  under  Charlemagne 
and  in  England,  if  not  in  other  times  and  places,  the  alodial 
freeholder  was  bound  to  render  for  the  defence  of  the  realm  ; 
it  was  more  commonly  required,  because  the  lands  were  on  a 
barbarian  frontier ;  but  the  duty  was  not  even  veii'y  analo- 
gous to  that  of  a  feudal  tenant.^  The  essence  of  a  fief  seems 
to  be,  that  its  tenant  owed  fealty  to  a  lord,  and  not  to  the  state 
or  the  sovereign  ;  the  lord  might  be  the  latter,  but  it  was  not, 
feudally  speaking,  as  a  sovereign  that  he  was  obeyed.  This 
is,  therefore,  sufficient  to  warrant  us  in  tracing  the  real  theory 
of  feuds  no  higher  than  the  Merovingian  history  in  France  ; 
their  full  establishment,  as  has  been  seen,  is  considerably 
later.  But  the  preparatory  steps  in  the  constitutions  of  the 
declining  empire  are  of  considerable  importance,  not  merely 
as  analogies,  but  as  predisposing  circumstances,  and  even 
germs  to  be  subsequently  developed.  The  beneficiary  tenure 
of  lands  could  not  well  be  brought  by  the  conquerors  from 
Germany  ;  but  the  donatives  of  arms  or  precious  metals 
bestowed  by  the  chiefs  on  their  followers  were  also  analogous 
to  fiefs ;  and,  as  the  Roman  institutions  were  one  source  of 
the  law  of  tenure,  so  these  were  another. 

It  is  of  great  importance  to  be  on  our  guard  against  seeming 
analogies  which  vanish  away  when  they  are  closely  observed. 
We  should  speak  inaccurately  if  we  were  to  use  the  word 
feudal  for  the  service  of  the  Irish  or  Highland  clans  to  their 
chieftain  ;  their  tie  was  that  of  imagined  kindred  and  respect 
for  birth,  not  the  spontaneous  compact  of  vassalage.  Much 
less  can  we  extend  the  name  of  feud,  though  it  is  sometimes 

1  This  word  "vassal"  is  used  very  conseqniha.vA\i.v, -at  deUctibxts  quoqite  ob- 
indefiuitely  ;  it  means,  in  its  original  noxii  essent  et  legionibus  insererentur. 
sense,  only  a  servant  or  dependant.  But  (Not.  ad  Cod.  Theod.  1.  vii.  tit.  20,  c.  12.) 
in  the  continental  records  of  histories  Sir  Francis  Palgrave,  however,  says, — 
-we  commonly  find  it  applied  to  feudal  "  The  duty  of  hearing  arms  was  insepara- 
tenants.  bly  connected  with  the  property."    (Eng- 

2  If  Gothofred  is  right  in  his  construe-  hsh  Commonwealth,  i.  354.)  This  is  too 
tionof  the  tenure  of  these  Lati,  tliey  were  equivocal ;  but  he  certainly  means  more 
not  even  generally  liable  to  this  part  of  than  Gothofred  ;  he  suppose's  a  permanent 
our  trinoda  necessita.s,  but  only  to  con-  universal  obhgation  to  render  service  in 
scription  for  tlie  legions.     Et  ea  tamcu  aU  public  warfare. 

conditione  terras    ilUs  excolendas  La!ti 


pErDAL  System. 


ITS  EXTENT. 


187 


straiifrelv  misapplied,  to  the  polity  of  Poland  and  Russia. 
All  the  P(tli<h  nobles  were  equal  in  rights,  and  independent 
of  eaeh  other  ;  all  who  were  less  than  nohle  were  in  servitude. 
No  frovernnient  ean  be  more  opjiosite  to  the  long  gradations 
and  mutual  duties  of  the  feudal  system.^ 

The  regular  maohhiery  and  systematic  establishment  of 
feuds,  in  fact,  may  be  considered  as  almost  confined  j,^^,.,,^ ,,,. 
to   the   dominions  of   Charlemagne,  and   to   those  tiie  feudal 
countries  which  afterwards  derived  it  from  thene£.     *'   "*' 
In  England  it  can  hardly  be  thought  to  have  existed  in  a 
complete  state  before  thi-  Ci>n(piest.     Scotland,  it  is  supposed, 
borrowed  it  soon  atK>r  from  lu-r  neighbor.     The  Lonil)ards  of 
Benevento  had  introduced  feudal  customs  into  the  Neapolitan 
j)r(>vinees,  whieh  the  Norman  conquerors  afterwards  ])erfected. 
Feudal  tenures  were  so  general  in  the  kingdom  of  Aragon, 
that  I  reckon  it  among  the  monarchies  which  were  founded 
upon  that  basis.*     Charlemagne's  empire,  it  must  be  remem- 
bered, extended  as  far  as  the  Ebro.     But  in  Castile^  and 
Portugal  they  were  very  rare,  and  certainly  could  produce  no 


1  Tn  civil  history  many  instance?  mif^ht 
bo  fount  of  ffudiil  con>moiiies  in  couiitrii'S 
not  rc;:uliitnl  l>y  tlip  feu. bit  law.  Thus 
SelJfU  has  iiuhlished  an  infeuJatioii  of  a 
vayvu.l  of  Moldavia  Ijy  the  kiiij;  of  Poland, 
A.r>.  14^."),  in  the  regular  forms,  vol.  iii.  p. 
514.  But  the.se  political  fiefs  have  hardly 
any  connection  with  the  (general  system, 
and  merely  denote  the  sulionlination  of 
one  prince  or  people  to  anotlier. 

2  It  is  proliahle  that  feudal  tenure  WOB 
ai>  ancient  in  the  north  of  Spain  as  in  the 
conti(.'Uous  )iroviiices  of  Kniiice.  Hut  it 
Beems  to  liave  chietiy  prevailed  in  Anij;on 
about  the  twelfth  (iiid  thirteenth  centu- 
rii-«,  when  the  Moors  south  of  the  Kbro 
Wert-  sutidued  Vjy  the  enter)>ris<-  of  ))rivato 
nobles,  who,  after  conquering  cstat<'S  for 
them.selves.  clid  honuiRe  for  them  to  the 
kinc.  .lames  I.,  upon  tlie  reilurtion  of 
Valeijcia,  )fnint<-d  lands  by  way  of  fief,  ou 
con^lilion  of  defending  that  kiiindom 
apiin^t  the  .Mo<)rs.  and  n'sidinj;  person- 
ally upon  the  itttate.  Many  did  not  per- 
fonii  this  enpi^emeiit.  and  were  deprived 
of  the  lands  in  eonM-queiie*'.  It  upp»irM 
by  ttie  testiment  of  this  monarch  that 
feuitil  ti-nurei  subsisted  in  every  part  of 
his  doiiiiidoiis.  —  Martenne.  Thesaurus 
Ani-<'dotorum.  I.  i  p.  1141.11'i5.  Ani'iliit 
of  I'eter  II.  ill  1'21<I  pnihil'its  the  aliena- 
tion of  rviphijt'usfi  without  the  lord's 
cnniwnt.  It  is  hard  t'>s«y  whether  pe^ular 
flefs  are  meant  tiy  thl«  word.  —  l)e  .Mareu, 
Murea  Uispanica,  p.  ISMi.     Thin  author 


says  that  there  were  no  arriere-flefs  in 
Catalonia. 

The  Anigonesc  flefs  appear,  however,  to 
have  differed  from  those  of  other  countries 
in  some  respects.  Zurita  mentions  fiefs 
accoriiing  to  the  ctntoin  of  Itnhi.  which  he 
e.xplains  to  be  such  as  were  lial)lo  to  the 
usual  feudal  aids  for  marrying  the  lord's 
daughter,  and  other  occasions.  We  may 
infer,  therefore,  that  these  prestation.s 
were  not  customary  in  Aragon.  —  Anales 
de  Anigon,  t.  ii.  p.  fQ. 

•'  Wliat  is  said  of  vassalage  in  .\lfonzo 
X.'s  code,  Las  siete  partidas,  is  short  and 
obscure  :  nor  am  I  certain  tliat  it  meant 
anything  more  than  vohintnry  rominen- 
ilatinii.  the  custom  mentioned  in  the 
former  part  of  this  chapter,  from  which 
the  vas.sal  might  depart  at  pleasui-e.  See, 
however,  I)u  Caiige,  v.  Honor,  where 
authorities  are  given  for  the  existence  of 
Castllian  fiefs  ;  and  I  have  met  with 
occasional  mention  of  them  in  history. 
1  believe  that  tenures  of  this  kind  were 
introduced  in  the  fourteenth  and  flfleeiitll 
centuries  ;  but  not  to  any  great  extent. 
—  Marhia,  Teoria  de  las  Cortes,  t.  iii.  p.  14. 

Tenuri's  of  a  feuilal  nature,  as  I  collect 
from  Freirii  lustitut.  .hiris  busitani.  tniu. 
ii.  t.  1  and  3.  i'xist<'d  in  Portugal,  though 
the  jealousy  of  the  crown  prevented  tho 
Bystem  from  being  estJiblislied.  Them 
wen'  even  territorial  jurisillctioiis  In  that 
kingdom,  though  not,  at  leiuit  originally, 
in  CBBlUe. 


188  NOBILITY.  Chap.  II.  Part  II. 

political  effect.  Benefices  for  life  were  sometimes  granted  in 
the  kingdoms  of  Denmark  and  Bohemia.-^  Neither  of  these, 
however,  nor  Sweden,  nor  Hungaiy,  come  under  the  descrip- 
tion of  countries  influenced  by  the  feudal  system.^  That 
system,  however,  after  all  these  limitations,  was  so  extensively 
diffused,  that  it  might  produce  confusion  as  well  as  prolixity 
to  pursue  collateral  branches  of  its  history  in  all  the  countries 
where  it  prevailed.  But  this  embarrassment  may  be  avoided 
without  any  loss,  I  trust,  of  important  information.  The 
English  constitution  will  find  its  place  in  another  portion  of 
these  volumes  ;  and  the  political  condition  of  Italy,  after  the 
eleventh  century,  was  not  much  affected,  except  in  the  king- 
dom of  Naples,  by  the  laws  of  feudal  tenure.  I  shall  confine 
myself,  therefore,  chiefly  to  France  and  Germany ;  and  far 
more  to  the  former  than  the  latter  country.  But  it  may  be 
expedient  first  to  contemplate  the  state  of  society  in  its  various 
classes  during  the  prevalence  of  feudal  principles,  before  we 
trace  their  influence  upon  the  national  government. 

It  has  been  laid  down  already  as  most  probable  that  no 
Classes  of  proper  aristocracy,  except  that  of  wealth,  was 
Society.  known  under  the  early  kings  of  France ;  and  it 
Nobility.  was  hinted  that  hereditary  benefices,  or,  in  other 
words,  fiefs,  might  supply  the  link  that  was  wanting  between 
personal  privileges  and  those  of  descent.  The  possessors  of 
beneficiary  estates  were  usually  the  richest  and  most  con- 
spicuous individuals  in  the  estate.  They  were  immediately 
connected  with  the  crown,  and  partakers  in  the  exercise  of 
justice  and  royal  counsels.  Their  sons  now  came  to  inherit 
this  eminence ;  and,  as  fiefs  were  either  inalienable,  or  at 
least  not  very  frequently  alienated,  rich  families  were  kept 
long  in  sight ;  and,  whether  engaged  in  j^ublic  affairs,  or  living 
with  magnificence  and  hospitality  at  home,  naturally  drew  to 
themselves  popular  estimation.  The  dukes  and  counts,  who 
had  changed  their  quality  of  governors  into  that  of  lords  over 

1  Dani.-eregnipoliticus status.   Elzevir,  this   does   not  in   the  least  imply  that 

1629.     Stransky,  Respublica   Bohemica,  lands  in  Denmark  proper  were  feudal,  of 

ib.  lu  one  of  the  oldest  Danish  historians,  which  I  find  no  evidence. 
Sweno,  I  have  noticed  this  expression  :        -  Though  there  were  no  feudal  tenures 

Waldemarus,  patris  tunc  potitus /eorfo.  in  Sweden,  yet  the  nobility  and  others 

Laugebek,  Scrip.  Iterum  Danie.  t.  i.  p.  62.  were  exempt  from  taxes  on  conilitiou  of 

By  this  he  means  the  duchy  of  Sleswic,  serving  the  king  with  a  horse  and  arms 

not  a  fief,  but  an  lionor  or  government  at  their  own  expense  ;  and  a  distinction 

possessed  by  Waldemar.   Saxo  Grammat-  was  taken  between  liber  and  tributarius. 

icus  call.s  it,  more  classically,   paternae  But  any  one  of  the  latter  might  become 

prfefeetursB    dignita.s.      Sleswic   was,   in  of  the  formerclass,  or  vice  versa.  —  Sueciae 

later  times,  sometimes  held  as  a  fief;  but  descriptio.     EUevir,  1631,  p.  92. 


Feidal  System.  XOBILITV.  189 

the  itrovinces  iiitrusteil  to  tliom,  wci-c  at  tlio  head  of  this 
noble  chi>j.  And  in  imitation  ot"  them,  their  own  vassals,  as 
well  as  those  of  the  crown,  and  even  rich  alodialists,  assnrued 
titles  fmm  their  towns  or  castles,  and  thus  arose  a  numher  of 
petty  counts,  harons.  and  viscounts.  This  disiiuct  class  of 
nobility  became  coextensive  with  the  feudal  tenures.^  For 
the  militiiry  tenant,  however  poor,  was  subject  to  no  tribute ; 
no  prestation,  but  service  in  flie  Held  ;  he  was  the  companion 
of  his  lord  in  the  sjK)rts  and  teasting  of  his  castle,  the  peer  of 
his  court ;  he  foujrht  on  horseback,  he  was  clad  in  the  coat  of 
mail,  while  the  conunonalty.  if  sunnnoned  at  all  to  war.  came 
on  foot,  and  with  no  armor  of  defence.  As  everything  iu  the 
habits  of  society  conspired  with  that  prejudice  which,  in  spite 
of  moral  philo-ophers,  will  constantly  raise  the  profession  of 
arms  above  all  others,  it  w;v-;  a  natural  consequence  that  a 
new  species  of  aristocracy,  founded  upon  the  mixed  consider- 
ations of  birth,  tenure,  and  occupation,  sprung  out  of  the 
feudal  system.  Every  possessor  of  a  lief  was  a  gentleman, 
though  he  owned  but  a  few  acres  of  land,  and  furnishi-d  his 
slender  contriI)ution  towards  the  ecpiipment  of  a  knight.  In 
the  Libri  Femlorum,  indeed,  those  who  were  three  degrees 
remo\  ed  from  the  emperor  in  order  of  tenancy  are  coiisiilered 
as  ignoble ;  "^  but  this  is  restrained  to  modern  investitures  ;  and 
in  France,  where  subinfeudation  was  carried  the  farthest,  no 
such  distinction  has  met  my  observation.* 

There  still,  however,  wanted  something  to  ascertain  gentili- 
ty of  blood  where  it  was  not  marked  by  the  actual  tenure  of 
liuid.  This  was  supplied  In'  two  iiniovations  devised  in  the 
eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries  —  the  adoption  of  siu'names 
and  of  armorial  bearings.  The  first  are  commoidy  referred 
to  the  former  age.  when  the  nobilitv  bej^an  to  add  the  names 
of  their  estates  to  their  own,  or,  having  any  way  acquired  a 
distinctive  ap|)ellation,  transmitted  it  to  their  posterity.*     As 

>  M.   Ou^Ttird    obH^rrca    that    in   the  =  I,,  ii.  t.  10. 

ChJirtulnry  of  CliurtrfU,  exlii)>itiii^  tlio  3  Tlii' iiol>ilit_v  of  an  fi/oiYia/ possession, 

UHHin-K    of    the  eleventh  and   be^inninK  '"    Fniiice,    ilepenileit   upon   its   rijrht   to 

of  tlie   twelfth   renliirles,    "  \m   nohlesse  territorial    jurisiUetion.        Ileiioe     tliei-o 

»"v    niontru  roniplelement    oonstituti'-e  ;  were   frnnr-alniT  niihlrx  anii  friiiir-iil'  iix 

c'ert    i   ilin-,    p^ivill•;.^l■^•   et    heri-ditJiire.  ratiirifrs  ;  the  latter  of  which  weiT  siili- 

Kll'- i«iit  etn- divi-.-<- i-ii  haute,  nioyenne,  ji-et  to  tlie  jurisdirtimi  nl'  the  iiei(.'hhor- 

et    biu-M-."      Ily  tin- llr-t  he  umlerstJinilN  iu);lor(l.    I^nisrau,  Tniite  di's  .'»ei(;neuriis, 

thoM- "ho  helil  lnniie<liat<-ly  of  thecrown  ;  p.  T'i.     I>eMisart.   Dietionmiire   dim  Diiel- 

the  nil'ldle  nohlllty  wen'  luediat^-  vaxsalH,  Hlons,  art.  Kraue-aleu. 

hut  hail  ri({htn  of  juri)-lietinii,  whieh  the  <  .Mahilloii.    Tniite    ile    Piploniatii|ue, 

lower    had     not.      ( I'roleKoMK'iieM    k  la  1.  ii.  e.  7.     The  auilinrs  of  the   .Nnuveau 

CartuUire    Je   l'linrtn-»,   p.  »J.)  Tniiti    dc    I)iploniatii{Ue,   t.   ii.   p.    Oy, 


190 


NOBILITY. 


Chap.  II.  Part.  II. 


to  armorial  bearings,  there  is  no  doubt  that  emblems  some- 
what similar  have  been  immemorially  used  both  in  war  and 
peace.  The  shields  of  ancient  warriors,  and  devices  upon 
coins  or  seals,  bear  no  distant  resemblance  to  modern  blazon- 
ry. But  the  general  introduction  of  such  bearings,  as 
hereditary  distinctions,  has  been  sometimes  attributed  to  tour- 
naments, wherein  the  champions  were  distinguished  by  fanci- 
ful devices  ;  sometimes  to  the  crusades,  where  a  multitude  of 
all  nations  and  lans^uages  stood  in  need  of  some  visible  token 
to  denote  the  banners  of  their  respective  chiefs.  In  fact,  the 
peculiar  symbols  of  heraldry  point  to  both  these  sources,  and 
have  been  borrowed  in  part  from  each.-^  Hereditary  arms 
W'ere  perhaps  scarcely  used  by  private  families  before  the 
beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century.^  From  that  time,  how- 
ever, they  became  very  general,  and  have  contributed  to 
elucidate  that  branch  of  history  which  regards  the  descent  of 
illustrious  families. 


trace  the  use  of  surnames  in  a  few  in- 
stances even  to  the  beginning  of  the 
tenth  century  ;  hut  they  did  not  become 
general,  according  to  tliem,  till  the  thir- 
teenth. 

M.  Guerard  finds  a  few  hereditary  sur- 
names in  the  eleventh  century  and  many 
that  were  personal.  (Cartulaire  de  Char- 
tres,  p.  93.)  The  latter  are  not  surnames 
at  ail,  in  our  usual  sense.  A  good  many 
may  be  found  in  Domesday,  as  that  of 
Burdet  in  Leicestershire,  Malet  in  Suf- 
folk, Corbet  in  Shropshire,  Colville  in 
Yorkshire,  besides  those  with  de,  which 
of  course  is  a  local  designation,  l)ut  be- 
came hereditary. 

1  Mem  de  I'Acad.  des  Inscriptions,  t. 
XX.  p.  579. 

2  I  should  he  unwilling  to  make  a 
negative  assertion  peremptorily  in  a  mat- 
ter of  mere  antiquarian  research  ;  but  I 
am  not  aware  of  any  decisive  evidence 
that  hereditary  arms  were  borne  in  the 
twelfth  century,  except  by  a  very  few 
royal  or  almost  royal  famihe.s.  Mabil- 
lon,  Traite  de  Diplomatique,  1.  ii.  c.  18. 
Those  of  Geoffrey  the  Fair,  count  of 
Anjou,  who  died  in  1150,  are  extant  on 
his  shield  ;  azure,  four  lions  rampant  or. 
Hist.  Litteraire  de  la  France,  t.  ix.  p. 
165.  If  arms  had  been  considered  as 
hereditary  at  that  time,  this  should  be 
the  beai-ing  of  England,  which,  as  we  all 
know,  differs  considerably.  Louis  VII. 
sprinkled  his  seal  and  coin  \vith  fleurs-de- 
lys,  a  very  ancient  device,  or  rather  orna- 
ment, and  the  Siime  as  what  are  some- 
times called  bees.   The  golden  ornaments 


found  in  the  tomb  of  Childeric  I.  at 
Tournay,  which  may  be  seen  in  the 
library  of  Paris,  may  pass  either  for 
fleiirs-de-lys  or  bees.  Charles  V.  reduced 
the  number  to  three,  and  thus  fixed  the 
arms  of  France.  Tlie  counts  of  Tou- 
louse used  their  cross  in  the  twelfth  age  ; 
but  no  other  arms,  Vaissette  tells  us,  can 
be  traced  in  Languedoc  so  far  back.  T. 
iii.  p.  514. 

Armorial  hearings  were  in  use  among 
the  Saracens  during  the  later  crusades  ; 
as  appears  by  a  passage  in  Joinville,  t.  i. 
p.  88  (Collect,  des  Memoires),  and  Du 
Gauge's  note  upon  it.  Perhaps,  however, 
they  may  have  been  adopted  in  imitation 
of  the  Franks,  like  the  ceremonies  of 
knighthood.  Villaiet  ingeniously  con- 
jectures that  the  separation  of  cUfferent 
branches  of  the  same  family  by  their 
settlements  in  Palestine  led  to  the  use  of 
hereditary  arms,  in  order  to  preserve  the 
connection.     T.  xi.  p.  113. 

M.  Sismondi,  I  observe,  seems  to  enter- 
tain no  doubt  that  the  noble  famihes  of 
Pisa,  including  that  whose  name  he  bears, 
had  their  armorial  distinctions  in  the 
beginning  of  the  twelfth  century.  Hist, 
des  Repub.  Ital.  t.  i.  p.  373.  It  is  at 
least  probable  that  the  heraldic  devices 
were  as  ancient  in  Italy  as  in  any  part  of 
Europe.  And  the  authors  of  Nouveau 
Traite  de  Diplomatique,  t.  iv.  p.  388,  in- 
cline to  refer  hereditary  arms  even  in 
France  to  the  beginning  of  the  twelfth 
century,  though  without  producing  any 
evidence  for  this. 


Feudal  System.  ITS  PRn'ILEGES.  101 

When  the  privilcfros  of  birth  hud  thii^  been  roiulcivd  ca- 
pable of  legitimate  i)roof,  they  were  enluinoecl  in  a  its  privi- 
gi-eat  degree,  and  a  line  drawn  between  the  high-  •'^ses. 
burn  and  ignuble  classes,  almost  as  broad  as  that  which  sepa- 
rated liberty  from  servitutle.  All  ottices  of  trust  and  power 
were  conferred  on  the  former ;  those  excepted  which  appei'- 
tain  to  the  legid  profession.  A  plebeian  could  not  possess  a 
tief '  Such  at  least  Avas  the  original  strictness :  but  as  the 
aristocratic  principle  grew  weaker,  an  indulgence  was  ex- 
tended to  heirs,  and  afterwards  to  purchasers.-  They  were 
even  permitted  to  become  noble  by  the  acquisition,  or  at  least 
by  its  ix)-session  lor  three  generations.*  But  notwithstanding 
this  ennobling  quality  of  the  land,  wjiich  seems  rather  of  an 
equivocal  description,  it  became  an  established  right  of  tlie 
crown  to  take,  every  twenty  years,  and  on  every  change  of 
the  vassal,  a  fine,  known  by  the  name  of  franc-fief,  from 
plebeians  in  possession  of  land  held  by  a  noble  tenure.*  A 
gentleman  in  France  or  Germany  could  not  exercise  any 
trade  without  derogating,  that  is,  losing  the  advantages  of  his 
rank.  A  few  exceptions  were  made,  at  least  in  the  former 
countrv,  in  favor  of  some  liberal  arts,  and  of  foreign  com- 
merce.* But  in  nothing  does  the  feudal  liaughtiness  of  birth 
more  show  itself  than  in  the  disgrace  which  attended  unequal 
marriajres.  No  children  could  iiilicrit  a  territorv  held  im- 
mediately  of  the  empire  unless  both  their  parents  belonged  to 
the  higher  class  of  nobility.  In  France  the  offspring  of  a 
gentleman  by  a  plebeian  mother  were  reputed  noble  for  the 

I  We  have  no  English  word  that  con-  Soe  also  profaoe  to  the  samp  volume,  p. 

Teys   the   full   sense   of   rntiirier.      How  xii.     Accordiiij;  to  Mably,  the  jpossessioQ 

(jlorious  i-i  tliU  ileficienoy  in  our  [lolitiral  of  ii  fief  iliil  not  cp.iwe  to  confer  nobility 

Unguajre,  and  how  dilTen'nt  are  the  ideas  (analo).mu8  to  our  barony  by  tenure)  till 

gU)gR«t«<l  by  rniiimniur .'     Itnturier.  ac-  the  Ordonnances  iles  Ulois  in  1579.     Ob- 

cordin;;  to   Du   C'liige,  is    derived    from  wrvations  sur  I'llist.  de  Fninee,  1.  iii.c.  1, 

rupturarius,  &  jR'asaut,  ab  ai^rum  rum-  note  6.     Uut  l<auriirt'.  author  of  the  pre- 

pendo.  Ciee  above  citod,  refers  to   Houteiller,  a 

s  The  Establishment'!  of  St.  Louis  for-  writer  of  the  fourteenth  century,  to  provo 

bid    this    innovation,   but    Hoaumanoir  that  no  one  could  become  noble  without 

contetids   that  the  prohibitii>ii  di>es  not  the  kingV  authority.     The  contrailiclion 

extend  to  de«ceiir  i.r  nKirriii;.i-.  c.  4'^.   The  will    not  niurh   perple.x  us.  when  we  re- 

roturi'-r  who  urijuire'l  a  fief,  if  he   ciml-  Hect  on  the  dispn^ition  of  l.iwyers  to  a.s- 

lent^d    any    om-,    fciujrlit    with    iimoblo  eribe  all  preroj^itives    to    the   crown,  at 

aniil:    but    in    all    other    res|>eclH   was  the  expense  of  territorial  proprietors  and 

trvsiteil   nt   a   mntlenian.     Uiid.     Vet    a  of  ancient  cuMtoiiiiiry  law. 

knight  wan  not  obli^'ed  t«  ilo  homa^  to  <  The  rijjht.  orl^riiially  perhaps  usurpa- 

the  mturiirr  who  UTaine  hi*  su|«frior  by  tion,  called  Inine  tief,  be^run  under  I'hilip 

the  ac<|UiKi(inn  of  a  fief  on  which  he  de-  thi-  Fair.     Ordonnances  des  Kois,  t.  i.  p. 

peniled.     i'ar|wtiUer,  Supplement,  ad  Uu  324;   Ih-iiisart,  art.  Kninc-tief. 

Ca                    ■'         .'ium.  6  Hr.uanl.    Diet,    du    I>r..it    Nnniiand. 

le   .«t.   I»uls,  c.  143,  Encyclopedic,   art.   Noblesne.     Argou,  1. 

au  i  ..   u,  ...  'J.  .  .uoancei  doa  llobi,  t,  I.  U.  c.  2. 


192  ZSrOBILITY.  Chap.  II.  Part  II. 

purposes  of  inheritance  and  of  exemptiou  from  tribute.^  But 
they  could  not  be  received  into  any  order  of  chivahy,  thougli 
capable  of  simple  knighthood ;  nor  were  they  considered  as 
any  better  than  a  bastard  class  deeply  tainted  with  the  alloy  of 
their  maternal  extraction.  Many  instances  occur  where  let- 
ters of  nobility  have  been  granted  to  reinstate  them  in  their 
rank.^  For  several  purposes  it  was  necessary  to  j^rove  four, 
eight,  sixteen,  or  a  greater  number  of  quarters,  that  is,  of 
coats  borne  by  paternal  and  maternal  ancestors,  and  the  same 
practice  still  subsists  in  Germany.^ 

It  appears,  therefore,  that  the  original  nobility  of  the  Con- 
tinent were  what  we  may  call  self-created,  and  did  not  derive 
their  rank  from  any  su^  concessions  of  their  respective  sov- 
ereigns as  have  been  necessary  in  subsequent  ages.  In  Eng- 
land the  baronies  by  tenure  might  belong  to  the  same  class,  if 
the  lands  upon  which  they  depended  had  not  been  granted  by 
the  crown.  But  the  kings  of  France,  before  the  end  of  the 
thirteenth  century,  began  to  assume  a  privilege  of  creating 
nobles  by  their  own  authority,  and  without  regard  to  the  ten- 
ure of  land.  Philip  the  Hardy,  in  1271,  was  the  first  French 
king  who  granted  letters  of  nobility ;  under  the  reigns  of 
Philip  the  Fair  and  his  children  they  gradually  became  fre- 
quent.^ This  effected  a  change  in  the  character  of  nobility, 
and  had  as  obvious  a  moral,  as  other  events  of  the  same  age 
had  a  political,  influence  in  diminishing  the  power  and  inde- 
pendence of  the  territorial  aristocracy.  The  privileges  orig- 
inally connected  with  ancient  lineage  and  extensive  domains 
became  common  to  the  low-born  creatures  of  a  court,  and  lost 
consequently  part  of  their  title  to  respect.  The  lawyers,  as 
I  have  observed  above,  pretended  that  nobility  could  not 
exist  without  a  royal  concession.  They  acquired  themselves, 
in  return  for  their  exaltation  of  prerogative,  an  official  nobil- 
ity by  the  exercise  of  magistracy.  The  institutions  of  chiv- 
alry again  gave  rise  to  a  vast  increase  of  gentlemen,  knight- 

1  Nobility,   to  a  certain    degree,   was  gentility  from  the  father,  and  of  freedom 

communicated  through  the  mother  aloue,  from  the  mother. 

not  only  by  the  custom  of  Cliampagne,  2  Beaumanoir,  c.  45  ;  Du  Cange,  Dis- 

but  in  all  parts  of  France;  that  is,  the  sert.  10,  sur  Joinville ;  Carpentier  too. 

issue  were  ''  gentilhommes  du  fait  de  leur  Nobilitatio. 

corps,"  and  could  possess  fiefs  ;  but,  says  3  [Note  XII.] 

Beaumanoir,  "  la  gentilesse  par  laiiuelle  *  Velly,  t.  vi.  p.  432  ;   Du   Cange   and 

on  deviont  chevalier  doit  veuir  de  par  le  Carpentier,  voce   Nobilitaire,  &c.  ;  Bou- 

pfere,"   c.   45.     There   was   a  proverbial  lainvilliers.  Hist,  de  I'Ancieu  Gouverue- 

maxim  iu   French  law.  rather  emphatic  meut  de  France,  t.  i.  p.  317. 
than  decent,  to  express  the  derivation  of 


Feudal  System. 


DIFFERENT  ORDERS. 


193 


hood,  on  whomsoever  conterred  by  the  sovei'oijrn,  being  a 
sufficient  pa<?ix)rt  to  noble  privik'ges.  It  was  usual,  perhaps, 
to  grant  previous  letters  of  nobility  to  a  plebeian  lor  whom  the 
honor  ot"  knightliood  was  designed. 

In  this  noble  or  gentle  class  there  were  several  gradations. 
All  those  in  France  who  luld  lands  immediately  depending 
upon  the  crown,  whatever  titles  tliey  might  bear,  were  com- 
prised in  the  order  ot"  barons.  These  were  origi-  Diirereut 
nally  the  peei-s  of  the  king's  court ;  they  possessed  'J[^'','i'jif''^ 
the  higher  territorial  jurisdiction,  and  had  the  right 
of  carrying  their  own  banner  into  the  lield.^  To  these  cor- 
resitonded  the  Valvassores  majores  and  Capitanei  of  the  em- 
pire. In  a  subordinate  class  were  the  vassals  of  this  high 
nobihty,  who,  u[>un  the  Continent,  were  usually  termed  Va- 
vjvssors  —  an  ai)pellation  not  unknown,  though  rare,  in  Eng- 
land.'^ The  Chatelains  belonged  to  the  order  of  Vavassors, 
as  thev  held  only  arriere  liet's ;  but,  having  fortified  houses, 
from  which  they  derived  their  name  (a  distinction  very  im- 
portant in  those  times),  and  possessing  ampler  rights  of  terri- 
torial justice,  they  rose  above  the  level  of  their  fellows  in  the 
scale  of  tenure.*     But  after  the  personal  noliility  of  chivalry 


I  Be.nimaiinir,  c.  S4 ;  Da  Cango,  v. 
Baro;  Etablissemons  do  St.  Louis.  1.  i. 
c.  24.  1.  ii.  c.  .31).  The  vassjils  nf  infiTior 
Jonbi  were,  liowever.  calU'il,  iiiiiim|KTly, 
Baron.",  botli  in  Franco  and  EutflanJ. 
Kecueil  lii-s  llistoriens,  t.  xi.  j).  3>Ji); 
Mailox.  Baronia  .\n!;lica,  p.  V.iii.  In 
perfect  strirtnes.'i.  tlio.se  only  wlio.ie  iin- 
nie<liiit4?  tenure  of  the  crown  wa.s  older 
than  the  accession  of  Hu(;h  Capet  were 
barons  of  Kr;incc  ;  namely,  Bourbon, 
Coucy,  and  Beaujeu.  or  Beaujnlois.  It 
appears,  however,  by  a  rejpster  in  the 
Tv'ign  of  I'liilip  .Vutiustus,  tliat  fifty-nine 
were  reckonfl  in  that  cluRS  ;  the  feuda- 
taricH  of  the  Capelian  fiefs,  I'ariH  and 
Orleans  Ix-inp;  coiifonnde.l  with  the  ori- 
ginal vasjwls  of  the  crown.  Du  Cungc, 
▼rx".  Bam. 

-  I)u  Caritre,  v.  Vavassor ;  Velly  t.  vi. 
p.  UjI  :  Miulnx.  Ban)nia  .\n(;lica.  p.  13.0. 
There  is.  |M-rhaps,  hanlly  any  won!  nioro 
loos4'ly  us<-il  tluiii  Vavassor.  Bracton 
«ayii.  Sunt  etiani  VBVa.si«)n;s.  nia};nic  dig- 
niuitis  riri.  In  Knmce  anil  lierniany 
they  are  s<|inetliMes  luinied  with  much 
leiw  honor,  .le  suts  un  chevalier  n6  de 
Ce»t  |»art,  de  riivm^'urs  it  ilr  Ijdisr  unit. 
■ay*  a  romance.  This  is  to  l>e  expliilned 
by  the  (Hiverty  Ui  which  the  subjlrlniou 
of  flets  r<-<luc<.<l  Idle  Kentlemen. 

Chaucer  coucluJr*  tiiii  pkturexque  dc- 

VOU.   1.  13 


scription  of  the  Franklin,  in  the  prologue 
to  the  Canterbury  Tales,  thus  :  — 

'•  Was  never  such  a  worthy  vav.i-ssor." 
This  lias  perplexed  some  of  our  com- 
mentators, who.  not  knowing  well  what 
Wiis  meant  by  a  fninklin  or  by  a  vavassor, 
fancied  the  latter  to  be  of  much  hij|;her 
quality  than  the  former.  The  poet,  how- 
ever, was  strictly  correct;  his  acquaint- 
ance with  French  manners  showcil  liim 
that  the  country  squire,  for  his  franklin 
is  no  other,  precisely  corresponded  to  the 
vavajisor  in  France.  Those  wh<i,  havint; 
been  deceived,  by  comparatively  modern 
law-books,  into  a  notion  that  the  word 
franklin  denoted  but  a  stout  yeoman,  iti 
spite  of  the  wealth  and  i-ank  which 
CliauciT  a-ssigns  to  him,  and  believing 
also,  on  the  authority  of  the  loose  phrase 
in  liricton,  tliat  all  vavassors  were 
"  magnir  dignititis  viri,"  might  well  bo 
puzzled  at  seeing  the  words  employed  lU 
synonyms.  See  Todd"s  Illusti-ation^  of 
Qower  and  Chaucer  for  an  instance. 

^  I)u  Cange,  v.  Cast<.'llanus  :  ("orttumes 
de  I'oitou,  tit.  iii.;  I,oiseau  Traite  des 
Sfigiieuries,  p.  \W.  Whoever  liad  a  right 
to  ;i  castle  had  la  haute  justice  ;  thi-  be- 
ing so  in<'iilent  to  the  castle,  (hat  it  wan 
trmsferred  along  with  It.  There  might, 
however,  be  .a  Seigni-ur  ha  lit -just  Icier  be- 
low the  Chateluin  ;  and  a   ridiculuuM  din- 


194 


CLEEGY. 


Chap.  II.  Part  II. 


Clergy. 


became  the  object  of  pride,  the  Vavassors  who  obtained  knight- 
hood wei'e  commonly  styled  bachelors ;  those  who  had  not  re- 
ceived that  honor  feU  into  the  class  of  squires,-^  or  damoiseaux. 
It  will  be  needless  to  dwell  upon  the  condition  of  the  infe- 
rior clergy,  whether  secular  or  professed,  as  it 
bears  Httle  upon  the  general  scheme  of  polity. 
The  prelates,  and  abbots,  however,  it  must  be  understood, 
were  coiBpletely  feudal  nobles.  They  swore  fealty  for  their 
lands  to  the  king  or  other  superior,  received  the  homage 
of  their  vassals,  enjoyed  the  same  immunities,  exercised  the 
same  jurisdiction,  maintained  the  same  authority,  as  the  lay 
lords  among  whom  they  dwelt.  Military  service  does  not 
appear  to  have  been  reserved  in  the  beneficiary  grants  made 
to  cathedrals  and  monasteries.  But  when  other  vassals  of  the 
crown  were  called  upon  to  repay  the  bounty  of  their  sover- 
eign by  personal  attendance  in  war,  the  ecclesiastical  tenants 
were  supposed  to  fall  within  the  scope  of  this  feudal  duty, 
which  men  little  less  uneducated  and  violent  than  their  com- 
patriots were  not  reluctant  to  fulfil.  Charlemagne  exempted 
or  rather  prohibited  them  from  personal  service  by  several 
capitularies.^  The  pi'actice,  however,  as  every  one  who  has 
some  knowlege  of  history  will  be  aware,  prevailed  in  succeed- 
ing ages.  Both  in  national  and  private  warfare  we  find  very 
frequent  mention  of  martial  prelates.^  But,  contrary  as  this 
actual   service  might  be  to  the  civil  as  well  as  ecclesiastical 


tinction  was  made  as  to  the  number  of 
posts  by  which  their  gallows  might  be 
supported.  A  baroa's  instrument  of  exe- 
cution stood  on  four  posts  ;  a  chEitelain's 
on  three  ;  while  the  inferior  lord  who 
happened  to  possess  la  haute  justice  was 
forced  to  hang  his  subjects  on  a  two- 
legged  machine.  Coutumes  de  Poitou  ; 
Du  Cange,  v.  Furca. 

Lauriere  quotes  from  an  old  manu- 
script the  following  short  scale  of  ranks : 
Due  est  la  premifere  diguite,  puis  comtes, 
puis  viscomtes,  et  puis  baron,  et  puis 
chatelain,  et  puis  vavasseur,  et  puis 
citaen,  et  puis  villain.  Ordonnances  des 
Rois,  t.  i.  p.  277. 

1  The  sons  of  knights,  and  gentlemen 
not  yet  knighted,  took  the  appellation  of 
squires  in  the  twelfth  century.  Vaissette, 
Hist,  de  Lang.  t.  ii.  p.  513.  That  of  Da- 
moiseau  came  into  use  in  the  thirteenth. 
Id.  t.  iii.  p.  529.  The  latter  was,  I  think, 
more  usual  in  France.  Du  Cange  gives 
little  information  as  to  the  word  squire, 
fScutifer.)  "  Apud  Anglos,"  he  says, 
''  penultima    est    nobUitatis  descriptio, 


inter  Equitem  et  Generosum.  Quod  et 
alibi  in  usu  fuit."  Squire  was  not  used 
as  a  title  of  distinction  in  England  till 
the  reign  of  Edward  III.,  and  then  but 
sparingly.  Though  by  Henry  VI. "s  time 
it  was  grown  more  common,  yet  none 
assumed  it  but  the  sons  and  heirs  of 
knights  and  some  military  men;  except 
officers  in  courts  of  jvistice,  who,  by  pa- 
tent or  prescription,  had  obtained  that 
addition  Spelman's  Posthumous  Works, 
p.  234. 

2  Mably,  1.  1.  c.  5  ;  Baluze,  t.  i.  p.  410, 
932,  987.  Any  bishop,  priest,  deacon,  or 
subdeaoon  bearing  arms  was  to  be  de- 
graded and  not  even  admitted  to  lay 
communion.    Id.  p.  932. 

3  One  of  the  latest  instances  probably 
of  a  fighting  bishop  is  Jean  Montaigu, 
archbishop  of  Sens,  who  was  killed  at 
Azincourt.  Monstrelet  says  that  he  was 
"  non  pas  en  estat  pontifical,  car  an  lieu 
de  mitre  il  portoit  une  bacinet,  pour  dal- 
matique  portoit  un  haubergeon,  pour 
chasuble  la  piece  d'acier ;  et  au  lieu  de 
crosse,  portoit  une  hache."    Fol.  132. 


Feudal  System.  fREEMEN.  105 

la\v>,  the  fler-i'V  who  hi'lil  military  fiefs  were  of  course  bound 
to  fuhil  the  chief  obhgatiou  of  that  tenure  and  send  their 
vassids  into  the  held.  We  have  many  instances  of  their  ac- 
companying the  lu-iuy,  though  not  mixing  in  the  eontlict ;  and 
even  the  parislj  priests  headed  the  militia  of  their  villages.^ 
The  prelates,  however,  sometimes  contrived  to  avttid  this  mili- 
tary service,  and  the  payments  introduced  iu  commutation  for 
it,  by  holding  lands  in  frank-almoigne,  a  tenure  wliich  ex- 
empted them  from  every  s^jecies  of  obligation  except  that  of 
saying  msvsses  for  the  benefit  of  the  grantor's  family.^  But, 
notwithstanding  the  warlike  disposition  of  some  ecclesiastics, 
their  more  usual  inability  to  protect  the  estates  of  their 
cliurches  against  rai)acious  neighbors  suggested  a  new  spe- 
cies of  feudal  relation  and  tenure.  The  rich  abbeys  elected 
an  advocate,  whose  business  it  was  to  defend  their  interests 
both  in  secular  courts  and,  if  necessary,  in  the  field.  I'epin 
and  Charlemagne  ai'e  styled  Advocates  of  the  Roman  church. 
Tiiis,  indeed,  was  on  a  magnificent  scale  ;  but  in  ordinary 
practice  the  advocate  of  a  monastery  wjis  some  neighboring 
lord,  who,  in  return  for  his  protection,  possessed  many  lucra- 
tive privileges,  and  very  fn-quently  considerable  estates  by 
way  of  fief  from  his  ecclesiastical  clients.  Some  of  these 
advocates  are  reproached  witii  violating  tlieir  obligation,  and 
becoming  the  plunderers  of  those  whom  they  had  been  re- 
tained to  defend.^ 

The  classes  below  the  gentry  may  be  divided  into  freemen 
and  villeins.  Of  the  first  were  the  inhabitants  of  chartered 
towns,  the  citiztnis  and  burghers,  of  whom  more  Avill  be  said 
presently.  As  to  those  who  dwelt  in  the  country,  we  can 
have  no  dilFiculty  in  recognizing,  so  far  as  England  is  con- 
cerned, the  socjigers,  whose  tenure  was  free,  though  not  so 
noble  as  knight's  service,  ami  a  numerous  body  of  tenants 
for  term  of  life,  wiio  tunned  tliat  ancient  basis  of  our  strengtii 
the  English  yeomanry.  But  the  mere  freemen  are  not  at 
first  sight  so  distinguishable  in  other  countries.  In  French 
records  anil  law-ljooks  of  feudal  times,  all  besides  tiie  gen- 
try are  usually  confounded  under  the  names  of  villeins  or 
iKjmmes  de  p<j<jste  (gens  potestatis).*     This  proves  the  slight 

1  Danlol,  ni»t.  do  la  MlUco  Fmn^oiM,  '  Du  Cnngc,  v.  Aitvooiitu/t  ;  n   full  nnd 

t.  I.  |i.  S8.  uwful  article.     Kci-ueil   duM   llintorieu*. 

-  Ini     Cnn(f<',     Elix-moiynn     LilM'ra  ;  t.  xi.  iircfiu'i-,  p.  1H4. 

Mwlox.  UbpiiiIji  AiikI.  p.  '\V>:  Coki-  on  «  llmiio   pc,U'»Uitin,   tion    tiotilUit  — Ita 

LiltlctuD,  aud  other  Kfiglijiti  liiw-lxxikH.  nuucupiintur,  quod  In  poti-Btut*.'  douiiui 


196  SERFS   OR  VILLEINS.       Chap.  II.  Paet  II. 

estimation  in  Avliich  all  persons  of  ignoble  birth  were  consider- 
ed. For  undoubtedly  there  existed  a  great  many  proprietors 
of  land  and  others,  as  free,  though  not  as  privileged,  as  the  no- 
bility. In  the  south  of  France,  and  especially  Provence,  the 
number  of  freemen  is  remarked  to  have  been  greater  than  in 
the  parts  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Loire,  where  the  feudal 
tenures  were  almost  universal.^  I  shall  quote  part  of  a  pas- 
sage in  Beaumanoir,  which  points  out  this  distinction  of  ranks 
pretty  fully.  "  It  should  be  known,"  he  says,^  "  that  there 
are  three  conditions  of  men  in  this  world ;  the  first  is  that 
of  gentlemen ;  and  the  second  is  that  of  such  as  are  naturally 
free,  being  born  of  a  free  mother.  All  who  have  a  right  to 
be  called  gentlemen  are  free,  but  all  who  are  free  are  not 
gentlemen.  Gentility  comes  by  the  father,  and  not  by  the 
mother ;  but  freedom  is  derived  from  the  mother  only ;  and 
whoever  is  born  of  a  free  mother  is  himself  free,  and  has  fr-ee 
power  to  do  anything  that  is  lawful."  ^ 

In  every  age  and  country  until  times  comparatively  recent, 
Serfs  or  personal  servitude  appears  to  have  been  the  lot 
villeins.  pf  ^  large,  perhaps  the  greater,  portion  of  man- 

kind. We  lose  a  good  deal  of  our  sympathy  with  the  spirit 
of  freedom  in  Greece  and  Rome,  when  the  importunate  rec- 
ollection occurs  to  us  of  the  tasks  which  miglit  be  enjoined, 
and  the  punishments  which  might  be  inflicted,  without  control 
either  of  law  or  opinion,  by  the  keenest  patriot  of  the  Comitia, 
or  the  Council  of  Five  Thousand.  A  similar,  though  less 
powerful,  feeling  will  often  force  itself  on  the  mind  when  we 
read  the  history  of  the  middle  ages.  The  Germans,  in  their 
primitive  settlements,  were  accustomed  to  the  notion  of 
slavery,  incurred  not  only  by  captivity,  but  by  crimes,  by 
debt,  and  especially  by  loss  in  gaming.  When  they  invaded 
the  Roman  empire  they  found  the  same  condition  established 
in  all  its  provinces.  Hence,  from  the  beginning  of  the  era 
now  under  review,  servitude,  under  somewhat  different  modes, 
was  extremely  common.  There  is  some  difficulty  in  ascer- 
taining its  varieties  and  stages.     In  the  Salic  laws,  and  in  the 

sunt  — Opponunturvirisnobilibus  ;  apud  to  many  tributes  and  oppressive  claims 

Butilerium    Consuetudinarii     vocantur,  on  the  part  of  their  territorial  superiors, 

Coustumiers,  prestationibus  scilicet  ob-  we  cannot  be  sur|Drised  that  they  are  con- 

noxii  et  operis.     Du  Gauge,  v.  Potestas.  founded,  at  this  distance,  with  men  in 

As  all  these  freemen  were  obliged,  by  the  actual  servitude. 

ancient  laws  of  France,  to  live  under  the  i  Heeren,     Essai     sur    les     Croisades, 

protection  of  some  particular  lord,  and  p.  122. 

found  great  difficulty  in  choosing  a  new  2  Coiitumes  deBeauvoisis,  c.  45,  p.  256 

place  of  residence,  as   they  were  subject  3  [Note  XIII.] 


Feudal  System.  SERFS  OR  VILLEINS.  197 

C:iiiitul.ii-ie-;.  wo  read  not  only  of  Servi,  Init  of  Tiil»niarii, 
Lull,  and  Coloni,  wlio  wt-iv  cultivators  of  the  earth  and  sub- 
ject to  residence  upon  their  lord's  estate,  though  not  destitute 
of  property  or  civil  rijriits.*  Those  who  appertained  to  the 
demesne  lands  of  the  crown  were  ciUled  Fiscalini.  The  com- 
position for  the  murder  of  one  of  these  was  much  less  than 
that  for  a  freeman.-  The  number  of  these  servile  cultivators 
wa-  undoubtedlv  jrreat.  vet  in  those  early  times,  I  siioidd  con- 
ceive, nuu'li  le<s  than  it  aftcrwanls  became.  Property  was 
for  the  most  part  in  small  divisions,  and  a  Frank  who  could 
hardlv  support  his  fainilv  upon  a  pcttv  alodial  patrimony  was 
not  likely  to  encumber  hiiu-elf  with  many  servants.  But  the 
accumulation  of  overgrown  private  wealth  had  a  natural  ten- 
dency to  make  slavery  more  frequent.  Where  the  small  pro- 
prietors lost  their  lands  by  mere  rapine,  we  may  believe  that 
their  liberty  was  hardly  less  endangered.'^  Even  where  this 
was  not  the  case,  yet,  as  the  labor  either  of  artisans  or  of  free 
husbandinen  was  but  sparingly  in  demand,  they  were  often 
compelled  to  exchange  their  liberty  for  bread.''  In  seasons 
also  of  famine,  and  they  were  not  unfrequent,  many  freemen 
soM  themselves  to  slavery.  A  capitulary  of  Charles  the 
Bald  in  .SG4  permits  their  redemption  at  an  equitable  i)rice." 
Others  became  slaves,  as  more  fortunate  men  became  vassals, 
to  a  powerful  lord,  lor  the  sake  of  his  protection.  ]\Liny  were 
reduced  into  this  state  through  inability  to  pay  those  pe- 
cuniary compositions  for  otrenees  which  were  numerous  and 
sometimes  heavv  in  the  barbarian  codes  of  law ;  and  many 
more  bv  neglect  of  attendance  on  military  expeditions  of  the 

•  Tliese  pjtss.ajfe.1  nre  too  numoroiis  for  till  strirt  inquiry  h:id  hocn  maile  in  tlie 

reference.     In    u  very    e.irly    rhiirtcr   in  place  to  wliirli  lie  was  asserted  to  lielong, 

>Lirtenne's  Thesaurus  Anwilotorurn,   t.  as  to  his  comlition,  ami  that  of  his  fam- 

i.  p.  2ii.  1  lU'ls  are  Rranted,  cum  liouiini-  ily  :  p.  4(10.     Ami  if  the  villein  showed  a 

bu.'f  ibidem  |)onnancntilius.  ijuos  cnton-  charter   of   eufninchi.sement,  the    proof 

arin    nriliif    vivtrr    con^itituiiuus.     Men  of  its   forp'ry   w:i,s    to  lie    upon    the  lord. 

of  this  cliisii  were    culled,  in    It;ily,   Al-  No  man's  liherty  could  be  questioned  in 

diones.     A  Ixjmliard  capitulary  of  Cliarle-  the   Uun<lred-court. 

nuMtne  s.iys,  Aldiones  ei  le|.re  vivunt   in  ■'  .\Iontes<iuieu  ascribes  the  increase  of 

ItAlii  »ub  xervitute  dominorum  suorum,  personal  .servitude  in  Fnmce  to  the  con- 

qui  Fi'«calini.  vel  \aA\  vivunt  in  Krincil.  tinned  revolts  and  conunotioiis  under  tUe 

5Iunitori.  Dissert.  14.     (Notk  XIV. ]  two  first  dynJLsties.  1.  xxx.  c.  11. 

'  Orijdimlly     It    was    but     46     Bolidi  <  Du  Canute,  v.  Obnoxatio. 

(I>vs   Salic;i'.  c.   4.'}l,    tint   Charlemajrne  '  Ralu/.ii  Capitularia.     The  fireek  tnid- 

raisel   it  to  1<K(.     Itnlu/.ll  Capltularia.  p.  crs  pnn'hase.l  famished  wndches  on   llie 

\itl.     Til----  •■-■    — vend  pnivi-ioiis  in  the  coitsts  of  It'ilv,   whom  thi'y  sold    to    tho 

lawn  ol                        ;iiid   wis*-  laoiianh  in  .SaraceiiH.  —  Mnratori,    .Xiinali.i    il'Itnllii, 

Ctvor  of                     If  a   lonl  claimed  any  A.D.  7H.j.     Much    more  wouM   |M'rsous  In 

one  either  iw  lil«  TJIIidn  or  ulave  (colonus  this  extremity  HoU  thcmselvi>-  to  nel){h- 

nlvo    (M'rvu«),  who    had   ewniieil    beyouil  borinjf  lords, 
his  torritory,  he  wiis  uot  to  Iw  (firen  up 


198  SERFS  OR  VILLEINS.       Cuaf.  II.  Part   II. 

king,  the  penalty  of  which  was  a  fine  called  Heribann,  Avith 
the  altei'native  of  perpetual  servitude.-^  A  source  of  loss 
of  liberty  which  may  strike  us  as  more  extraordinary  was 
superstition ;  men  were  infatuated  enough  to  surrender  them- 
selves, as  well  as  their  properties,  to  churches  and  monaste- 
ries, in  return  for  such  benefits  as  they  might  reap  by  the 
prayers  of  their  new  masters.^ 

The  characteristic  distinction  of  a  villein  was  his  obligation 
to  remain  upon  his  lord's  estate.  He  was  not  only  precluded 
from  selling  the  lands  upon  which  he  dwelt,  but  his  person 
was  bound,  and  the  loi'd  might  reclaim  him  at  any  time,  by 
suit  in  a  court  of  justice,  if  he  ventured  to  stray.  But, 
equally  liable  to  this  confinement,  there  were  two  classes 
of  villeins,  whose  condition  was  exceedingly  different.  In 
England,  at  least  from  the  reign  of  Henry  II.,  one  only,  and 
that  the  inferior  species,  existed ;  incapable  of  property,  and 
destitute  of  redress,  except  against  the  most  outrageous 
injuries.^  The  lord  could  seize  whatever  they  acquired  or 
inherited,  or  convey  them,  apart  from  the  land,  to  a  stranger. 
Their  tenure  bound  them  to  what  were  called  villein  services, 
ignoble  in  their  nature,  and  indeterminate  in  their  degree ; 
the  felhng  of  timber,  the  carrying  of  manure,  the  repairing 
of  roads  for  their  lord,  who  seems  to  have  possessed  an 
equally  unbounded  right  over  their  labor  and  its  fruits.  But 
by  the  customs  of  France  and  Germany,  j^ersons  in  this 
abject  state  seem  to  have  been  called  serfs,  and  distinguished 
from  villeins,  who  were  only  bound  to  fixed  payments  and 
duties  in  respect  of  their  lord,  though,  as  it  seems,  without 
any  legal  redress  if  injured  by  him.*  "  The  third  estate  of 
men,"  says  Beaumanoir,  in  the  passage  above  quoted,  "  is 
that  of  such  as  are  not  free ;  and  these  are  not  all  of  one 
condition,  for  some  are  so  subject  to  their  lord  that  he  may 

1  Du  Cange,  Heribannum.  A  full  heri-  bien  que  selon  Dieu  tu  n'as  mie  plenierc 
bannum  was  60  solidi;  but  it  was  some-  poeste  sur  tou  vilaia.  Dont  se  tu  prena 
times  assessed  in  proportion  to  the  wealth  du  sieu  fors  les  di-oites  redevances  que 
of  the  party.  te  doit,  tu  les  prens  centre  Dieu,  et  sur 

-  Beaumanoir,  c.  45.     [Note  XV.]  le  peril  de  fame  et  come  robievres.     Et 

2  Littleton,  1.  ii.  c.  11.  Non  potest  ce  qu'on  dit  toutes  les  choses  que  vilains 
aliquis  (says  Glanvil),  in  villenagio  posi-  a,  sont  son  Seigneur,  c'est  voir  a  garder. 
tus,  libertatem  suam  propriis  denariis  Car  s"il  estoient  son  seigneur  propre,  il 
Ruis  qua?rere  —  quia  omnia  catalla  cu-  n'avoit  uuledifference  entreserf  et  vilain, 
juslibet  nativi  intelliguntur  esse  in  po-  mais  par  notre  usage  n'a  entre  toi  et  ton 
testate  domiiii  sui.  —  I.  v.  o.  5.  vilain  juge  fors  Dieu.  taut  com  il  est  tes 

«  This  is  clearly  expressed  in  a  French  couchans  et  tes  levans,  s'il  n'a  autre  loi 

law-book  of  the  tliirteenth  century,  the  vers  toi  fors  la  commune.     This  seems 

Conseil  of  I'ierre  des  Fontaines,  quoted  to  render  the  distinction  little  more  than 

by  Du  Cange,  voc.  Villanus.    Et  sache  theoretical. 


Feldal  System.     ^UJOLITIOX  OF  VILLEXAGE. 


109 


take  all  they  have,  alive  or  dead,  aiid  imitrison  them,  when- 
ever he  pleases,  heinjT  accountable  to  none  but  Goil ;  while 
others  are  treated  more  gently,  from  whom  the  lord  can  take 
nothing  but  customary  jniyment^j,  though  at  theii-  death  all 
they  have  escheats  to  liini."^ 

Under  every  denomination  of  servitude,  the  children 
followed  their  mother's  condition ;  except  in  England,  where 
the  father's  state  determined  tiiat  of  the  children  ;  on  whicli 
account  bastards  of  female  villeins  were  born  free,  the  law 
presuming  the  liberty  of  their  father."^  The  pro-  oonemi 
portion  of  freemen,  therefore,  would  have  been  abolition  of 
miserably  dimini>lied  if  there  had  been  no  reflux 
of  tlie  tide  wliich  ran  so  stronj^iv  towards  slaverv.  liut  the 
usage  of  manumission  made  a  sort  of  circulation  between 
these  two  states  of  mankind.  This,  as  is  well  known,  was 
an  exceedingly  common  practice  with  the  Romans  ;  and  is 
mentioned,  with  certain  ceremonies  prescribed,  in  the  Frankish 
and  other  early  laws.  The  clergy,  and  especially  several 
jK)pes,  enforced  it  as  a  duty  upon  laymen ;  and  inveighed 
against  tlie  scandal  of  keeping  Cln-istians  in  bondage.^  As 
society  advanced  in  Europe,  the  manumission  of  slaves  grew 
more   fnvjuent.*       l>y    the   indulgence   of    custom    in    some 


1  Beauni.inoir,  c.  45:  Du  CniiRe,  Vil- 
lanus.  ScTviis.  unJ  sevt-nil  other  urticlt-s. 
Sohini'lt.  Hist.  (li'!<  Alli'inanjls,  t.  ii.  p. 
171.  4;ij.  By  a  law  of  the  Lioiiibnnl.J.  a 
free  woman  who  married  a  fijave  ini);ht 
be  killcil  by  her  relations,  or  sold  :  if 
they  ne;;lecteU  t<J  <io  so,  the  flsc  uii|{ht 
claim  her  as  its  own. — Muratori,  Dis- 
eert.  14.  In  France  also  she  w.oh  liaiile 
to  be  treated  as  a  slave.  —  Marculfi  Kor- 
mulip.  1.  ii.  '£).  Kven  in  the  twelfth  oen- 
tury  it  »;«.<  the  law  of  Flanders  that 
whoever  married  a  villein  beeauie  one 
hiniixdf  uft<-r  In-  had  livdl  with  her  a 
twelvemonth.  —  llwueil  des  Ilistoriens, 
t.  xiii.  p.  STyi.  And,  t)y  a  capitulary  of 
Pepin,  if  a  man  married  a  villein  heliev- 
ini;  her  U)  he  free,  he  uiii;ht  repudiate 
her  and  marry  another. — Baluze,  p. 
1«1. 

Villein*  themJMdves  rould  not  marry 
without  the  lord'il  license,  under  penalty 
of  forfeitioK  their  if'xjili*.  or  at  least  of  a 
mulct.  —  Du  ean^e.  t.  ForlMniarita^rinin. 
Thij«  •"•mn  Ut  Ix'  the  true  ori^io  of  the 
(iuuous  m>-rcheta  muliernni.  whi<'h  hao 
bren  aMcrilM-ii  to  a  very  ilillereut  custom. 
—  IJu  riiii^"...  V.  M<-r<'licta  .Mulieruiu; 
Dalr\  inplc  •  Aniialii  of  Sintlaiid,  vol.  I. 
p.  31^;   Arrhi(.H>lo|^a,  vol.   xil.  p.  31. 

-  Littleton,    a.    l>i>i.      Itnu'tuu    ludei-d 


hol(U  that  the  spurious  issue  of  a  neif, 
tliou}:h  by  a  free  father,  should  be  a. vil- 
lein, quia  .sei^nitur  conditioiiem  matris, 
quiLsi  vuljTo  conceptus,  1.  i.  e.  Ij.  Hut 
the  Uiws  under  the  name  of  Henry  I. 
declare  that  a  son  should  follow  his 
father's  condition  ;  so  that  this  iwculiar- 
ity  is  very  ancient  in  our  law.  —  Leges 
lien.  I.  c.  75  and  77. 

■'  Enfranchisements  by  testament  are 
very  common.  Thus  in  the  will  of  Se- 
niofred,  count  of  Harcelona,  in  ytj'i.  wo 
fiuil  the  following  piece  of  corrupt  Latin  : 
I>e  ipsos  ."ervos  nieos  et  ancillas,  illi  qui 
tradili  fuerunt  faciatis  illos  libros  projiter 
remedium  auimu-  meu';  et  alii  i|ui  fue- 
runt de  parentorum  meorum  renianeant 
ad  frutres  meos. — Marca  llispanica,  p. 
887. 

*  No  one  could  enfranchise  his  villein 
without  the  superior  lonl's  consent;  for 
this  was  to  diminish  the  value  of  hiH 
land,  npitirfr  If  Jul'.  —  Heaumanoir.  c. 
15.  Ktablisseniens  de  St.  Louis,  c.  34. 
It  was  necessary,  then-fore,  for  the  villeui 
to  obtain  the  suzerain's  conlirmation  ; 
otherwise  he  only  (dianp-d  masters  and 
escheated,  as  it  were,  to  the  superior; 
for  the  Ion!  who  had  tfranti'il  the  cliarU-r 
of  fr.mcliisc  was  tslujijinl  fniui  claiming 
him  aijaiin. 


200  ABOLITION  OF  VILLENAGE.    Chap.  II.  Pakt  II. 

places,  or  perhaps  by  original  convention,  villeins  niiglit 
possess  property,  and  thus  purchase  their  own  redemption. 
Even  where  they  had  no  legal  title  to  property,  it  was 
accounted  inhuman  to  divest  them  of  their  little  possession 
(the  peculium  of  Roman  law),  nor  was  their  poverty,  per- 
haps, less  tolerable,  upon  the  whole,  than  that  of  the  modern 
peasantry  in  most  countries  of  Europe.  It  was  only  in 
respect  of  his  lord,  it  must  be  remembered,  that  the  villein, 
at  least  in  England,  was  without  rights  ;  -^  he  might  inherit, 
purchase,  sue  in  the  courts  of  law ;  though,  as  defendjmt  in 
a  real  action  or  suit  wherein  land  was  claimed,  he  might 
shelter  himself  under  the  plea  of  villenage.  The  peasants 
of  this  condition  were  sometimes  made  use  of  in  war,  and 
rewarded  with  enfranchisement ;  especially  in  Italy,  where 
the  cities  and  petty  states  had  often  occasion  to  defend  them- 
selves with  their  own  population ;  and  in  peace  tlie  industry 
of  free  laborers  must  have  been  found  more  productive  and 
better  directed.  Hence  the  eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries 
saw  the  number  of  slaves  in  Italy  begin  to  decrease ;  early 
in  the  fifteenth  a  writer  quoted  by  Muratori  speaks  of  them 
as  no  longer  existing.^  The  greater  part  of  the  peasants  in 
some  countries  of  Germany  had  acquired  their  liberty  before 
the  end  of  the  thirteenth  century ;  in  other  parts,  as  well  as 
in  all  the  northern  and  eastern  regions  of  Europe,  they  re- 
mained in  a  sort  of  villenage  till  the  present  age.  Some 
very  few  instances  of  predial  servitude  have  been  discovered 
in  England  so  late  as  the  time  of  Elizabeth,^  and  pei-haps 
they  might  be  traced  still  lower.  Louis  Hutin,  in  France, 
after  innumerable  particular  instances  of  manumission  had 
taken  place,  by  a  general  edict  in  1315,  reciting  that  his 
kingdom  is  denominated  the  kingdom  of  the  Franks,  that  he 
would  have  the  fact  to  correspond  with  the  name,  emancipates 
all  persons  in  the  royal  domains  upon  paying  a  just  composi- 
tion, as  an   example   for   other   lords    possessing  villeins   to 

1  Littleton,  s.  189.     Perhaps  this  is  not,  against  their  lord,  was   ever  refused  in 

applicable  to  other  countries.     Villeins  England;    their   state    of  servitude   not 

were  incapable  of  being  received  as  wit-  being  absolute,  like  that  of  negroes  in 

nesses    against    freemen.  —  Kecueil    des  the  West  Indies,  but  particular  and  rela- 

Historiens,  t.  xiv.  preface,  p.  6.5.     There  tive,  as  that  of  an  apprentice  or  hired 

are  some  charters  of  kings  of  France  ad-  servant.     This  subject,  however,  is  not 

mitting  the  serfs   of  particular  niona.s-  devoid  of  obscurity, 

teries  to  give  evidence,  or  to  engage  in  2  Dissert.  14. 

the  judicial  combat,  against  freemen.  —  3  Barrington's  Observations  on  the  An 

Ordonnances  des  Kois,  t.  i.  p.  3.     But  T  cieut  St  .tutes,  p.  274. 
do  not  know  that  their  testiuiouy,  except 


Feudal  System. 


TENURES   OF  LANDS. 


201 


follow.^  Philip  the  Long  renewed  the  ?ame  eiliot  three 
years  atterwanls :  a  proof  that  it  had  not  V)een  carried  into 
execution.-  Indeed  there  are  letters  of  the  former  prince, 
wherein,  considering  that  many  of  his  suhjects  are  not  ap- 
prised of  the  extent  of  the  benefit  conferred  u]>on  tlicm,  he 
directs  his  officers  to  tax  them  as  high  as  their  fortunes  can 
well  bear.' 

It  is  deserving  of  notice  that  a  distinction  existed  from  very 
earlv  times  in  the  nature  of  lands,  collateral,  as  it  were,  to 
that  of  persons.  Thus  we  tind  mansi  ingcnui  and  mansi 
serviles  in  the  oldest  charters,  corresponding,  as  we  may  not 
uiu-casonably  conjecture,  to  the  libcruni  teneinentuni  and  vil- 
lenagium,  or  freehold  and  copyhold  of  our  own  law.  In 
France,  all  lands  held  in  roture  appear  to  be  considered  as 
villein  tenements,  and  are  so  termed  in  Latin,  though  many 
of  them  rather  answer  to  our  socage  freeholds.  But  although 
originally  this  servile  quality  of  lands  was  founded  on  the 
state  of  their  occupiers,  yet  thei'e  was  this  particularity,  that 


1  Ordonnances  des  Rois,  t.  i.  p.  583. 

s  1(1.  p.  053. 

3  \eU\,  t.  viii.  p.  38.  Philip  tlie  Fair 
had  eiiiancipatod  the  villeins  in  Uio  royiil 
domains  throusiliout  Lan^uedoc.  retain- 
jnit  only  an  annual  rent  for  their  lands, 
which  thus  became  cfiisivfn,  or  tnipliij- 
Ifiisis.  It  doe.s  not  appear  by  the  charter 
that  he  nold  this  enfranchisement,  thou^rh 
there  can  be  little  doubt  about  it.  Ho 
pennitteil  his  viis.<als  to  follow  the  v\- 
auiple  — Vaissette.  Hist,  de  Languedoc, 
t.  iv.:  .\ppendi.x.  p.  3,  12. 

It  is  nut  trencniUy  known,  I  think, 
that  predial  servitude  wa.s  not  abolished 
in  all  parts  of  Frsmce  till  the  revolution. 
In  some  places,  says  I'.isciuier,  the  peas- 
ants are  tiillables  i  volonte,  that  is,  their 
Contribution  is  not  (lermanent,  but  a«- 
ses.'iol  liy  the  lord  with  the  advice  of 
prud"  honimes,  re.s.seants  sur  les  lieux, 
accordin;?  to  the  [leasjint's  ability.  Oth- 
ers pay  a  ftxi-il  sum.  Some  are  called 
»*rfs  de  poursuite.  who  cannot  leave 
their  habitations,  but  may  be  followed 
liy  the  lord  into  any  part  of  Fnince  for 
the  taillo  upon  their  ifofKls.  This  wiut 
tlie  ruse  in  part  of  Champagne  and  the 
Nivernois.  Nor  could  these  Kerfs,  or 
(fi-n-  de  maiiunort<-,  ha  they  were  some- 

I .1.1    I  ..  trinnumilU'd  without  let- 

I  IV  kiiii:.  purchaM'd  by  a 

I  ii«  de  la  Kriiii-e.  I.  Iv.  c.  fj. 

|iM'  -  int'irnis  ua  that,  In  liil.').  the  Tiers 
Kilt  |,ni.M''l  till-  kiuK  til  cause-  nil  s<-rfs 
(liiiiiiiiiis  'If  iiiiii'l')  to  l>e  entraiicliisi-<l 
on  paylug  a  couipoxitluu  j  but  this  wan 


not  complied  with,  and  they  existed  in 
many  parts  when  he  wrote. — llistoire, 
t'riti.(ue.  t-  iii-  p.  '-98.  Argou,  in  his 
Institutions  du  Droit  Francois,  confirms 
this,  and  refers  to  the  customaries  of  Ni- 
vernois and  Vitry,  1.  i.  c.  1.  And  M.  do 
]{rLiiui;;ny,  in  his  preface  to  the  twelfth 
vnlunie  of  the  collection  of  Ordonnances, 
p.  22,  says  that  throujrhout  almost  the 
whole  jurisdiction  of  the  parliament  of 
Bensan(;oa  the  peasants  were  attached 
to  the  soil,  not  being  capable  of  leaving 
it  without  the  lord's  con.sent ;  and  that 
in  some  places  he  even  inherited  their 
goods  in  exclusion  of  the  kindred.  I 
recollect  to  have  rejul  in  some  part  of 
Voltaire's  correspondence  an  anecdot*? 
of  his  interference,  with  that  /.cnl  against 
oppression  which  is  the  shining  side  of 
his  moral  character,  in  behalf  of  some 
of  these  wretched  slaves  of  Francho- 
comte. 

About  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury, some  Oatalonian  serfs  who  l>ad  es- 
capeil  into  France  iM'iiig  claimed  by  their 
lords,  the  parliament  of  Toulouse  ile- 
cbired  that  every  man  who  entered  the 
kingdom  m  criiint  Frniire  should  be- 
come free.  The  liberty  of  our  kingdom 
is  such,  says  .Mczeniy,  that  its  air  com- 
municates freeilom  to  those  who  lireatho 
it,  and  our  kings  are  too  august  to  reign 
over  any  but  frei-men.  Villaret,  t.  xv. 
p.  31K."  How  mui-h  pri-tence  Mczemy 
had  for  such  a  llourish  may  be  decided 
by  the  Ijyuier  part  of  this  note. 


202        STATE  OF  FRANCE  AND  GERMANY.    Chap.  II.  Part  II. 

lands  never  changed  tlieir  character  along  with  that  of  the 
possessor ;  so  that  a  nobleman  might,  and  often  did,  hold 
estates  in  roture,  as  well  as  a  roturier  acquire  a  fief.  Thus 
in  England  the  terre  tenants  in  villenage,  who  occur  in  our 
old  books,  were  not  villeins,  but  freemen  holding  lands  which 
had  been  from  time  immemorial  of  a  villein  quality. 

At  the  final  separation  of  the  French  from  the  German 
side  of  Charlemagne's  empire  by  the  treaty  of  Verdun  in 
843,  there  was  perhaps  hardly  any  difference  in  the  constitu- 
tion of  the  two  kingdoms.  If  any  might  be  con- 
tiv™stateof  jectured  to  have  existed,  it  would  be  a  greater 
France  and  independence  and  fuller  rights  of  election  in  the 
eimany.  j^Qijiji^y  an(j  people  of  Germany.  But  in  the 
lapse  of  another  century  France  had  lost  all  her  poUtical 
unity,  and  her  kings  all  their  authority ;  while  the  Germanic 
empire  was  entirely  unbroken  under  an  effectual,  though  not 
absolute,  control  of  its  sovereign.  No  comparison  can  be 
made  between  the  power  of  Charles  the  Simple  and  Conrad 
the  First,  though  tlie  former  had  the  shadow  of  an  hereditary 
right,  and  the  latter  was  chosen  from  among  his  equals.  A 
long  succession  of  feeble  princes  or  usurpei's,  and  destructive 
incursions  of  the  Normans,  reduced  France  almost  to  a  disso- 
lution of  society ;  while  Germany,  under  Conrad,  Henry,  and 
the  Othos,  found  their  arms  not  less  prompt  and  successful 
against  revolted  vassals  than  external  enemies.  The  high 
dignities  were  less  completely  hereditary  than  they  had 
become  in  France ;  they  were  granted,  indeed,  pretty  regu- 
larly, but  they  were  solicited  as  well  as  granted ;  while  the 
chief  vassals  of  the  French  crown  assumed  them  as  patrimo- 
nial sovereignties,  to  which  a  royal  investiture  gave  more  of 
ornament  than  sanction. 

In  the  eleventh  century  these  impei'ial  prerogatives  began 
to  lose  part  of  their  lustre.  The  long  struggles  of  the  princes 
and  clergy  against  Henry  IV.  and  his  son,  the  revival  of 
more  effective  rights  of  election  on  the  extinction  of  the  house 
of  Franconia,  the  exhausting  contests  of  the  Swabian  emper- 
ors in  Italy,  the  intrinsic  weakness  produced  by  a  law  of  the 
empire,  according  to  which  the  reigning  sovereign  could  not 
retain  an  imperial  fief  more  than  a  year  in  liis  hands,  gradu- 
ally prepared  that  independence  of  the  German  aristocracy 
which  reached  its  heiirht  about  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth 
century.     During  this  period  the   French  crown  had  been 


Feudal  System.  COIXIXG  MONEY.  203 

insensibly  gaining  strength  ;  and  as  one  monarch  degenerated 
into  the  mere  head  of  a  confi-ileracy,  the  other  acquired  im- 
hniited  power  over  a  sohd  kingdom. 

It  would  be  tedious,  and  not  very  instructive,  to  follow  the 
di'tails  of  German  public  law  during  the  middle  ages ;  nor 
are  the  more  important  parts  of  it  easily  sejjarable  from  civil 
history.  In  this  relation  they  will  tind  a  place  in  a  subse- 
quent chapter  of  the  present  work.  France  demands  a  more 
minute  attention  ;  and  in  tracing  the  character  of  the  feudal 
system  in  that  country,  we  >Iiall  lind  ourselves  developing  the 
progress  of  a  very  different  polity. 

To  understand  in  what  degree  the  peers  and  barons  of 
France,  during  the  i^revalence  of  feudal  i)rinci|>les, 

•     1  ^      .     V  .1  *    1      I        J  Privileges 

were  mdependent  or  the  crown,  we  must  look  at  of  the 
their  Icadinir  privilejies.     These  may  be  reckoned  :  i''i'«"<^;ii 

,,-,,  '-    '■    ,  ^  "^  ,  .         vassals. 

1.  ihe  riglit  ot  coining  money;  2.  That  ot  waging 
private  war  ;  'i.  The  exenq)tion  from  all  public  tributes,  except 
the  feudal  aids ;  4.  The  freedom  from  legislative  control ; 
and,  0.  The  exclusive  exercise  of  original  judicature  in  their 
dominions.  Privileges  so  enormous,  and  so  contrary  to  all 
principles  of  sovereignty,  might  lead  us,  in  strictness,  to  ac- 
count France  rather  a  collection  of  states,  partially  allied  to 
each  other,  than  a  single  monarchy. 

1.  Silver  and  gold  were  not  very  scarce  in  the  first  ages 
of  the  French  monarchy ;  l)ut  they  passed  more  coining 
by  wt'igiit  than  Ijy  tale.  A  lax  and  ignorant  gov-  ™o""-'y- 
eminent,  which  had  not  learned  the  lucrative  mysteries  of  a 
royal  mint,  was  not  particularly  solicitous  to  give  its  subjects 
the  security  of  a  known  stamp  in  their  exchanges.^  In  some 
cities  of  France  money  api)ears  to  have  been  coined  by  pri- 
vate authority  bc.'fore  the  time  of  Charlemagne ;  at  least  one 
of  his  capitularies  ibrbids  the  circulation  of  any  that  had  not 
been  stamp(.*d  in  the  royal  mint.  His  successors  indulged 
some  of  tiieir  vassals  with  tiie  privilege  of  coining  money  for 
the  u.se  of  their  own  territories,  but  not  without  the  royal 
stiunp.     Alxjut  the  beginning  of  the  tenth  century,  however, 

1  The  prartico  of  keepini;  flno  gold  ami  tie  money  wa8  coineil  in  Fnince,  iind  that 

irilrer  unroiiicil  prcTailcl  iini(in);  privato  only   for    huihII    pavnient.-i. — Traiti-   ile« 

piTnonn,  wt  wi-11  n»  in  the  tn-iinury,  down  MonnoyoK.     It   \*  ("urions   that,   tlmuifli 

to  the  time  of  Thilip  the  Fair.     S'othini;  there  are  many  j;olil  eoinM  extJint  of  tho 

\r  mon- romniou  than  to  llnd,  in  the  in-  flrnt   niee  of  kinifM,  yet  few  or  none  aro 

■trumenu  of  i-nrlier  time,  payments  or  prenerveil  of  the  Heronil  or  thirl  heforo 

flnex  dtipnlaU-l  hy  weight  of  (joM  or  Hil-  the  n-i(fn  of  I'hilip  the  Fair.  —  Uu  Cuuge, 

Ter.     Lu  lllauc  tlierefuru  thiukit  ttiat  lit-  v.  Moueta. 


204  COINING  MONEY.  Chap.  II.  Part  II. 

the  lords,  among  their  other  assumptions  of  independence, 
issued  money  with  no  marks  but  their  own.^  At  the  accession 
of  Hugh  Capet  as  many  as  a  hundred  and  fifty  are  said  to 
have  exercised  this  power.  Even  under  St.  Louis  it  was 
possessed  by  about  eighty,  who,  exchiding  as  far  as  possible 
the  royal  coin  from  circulation,  enriched  themselves  at  their 
subjects'  expense  by  high  duties  (seigniorages),  which  they 
imposed  upon  every  new  coinage,  as  well  as  by  debasing  its 
standard.^  In  1185  Philip  Augustus  requests  the  abbot  of 
Corvey,  who  had  desisted  from  using  his  own  mint,  to  let  the 
royal  money  of  Paris  circulate  through  his  territories,  prom- 
ising that,  when  it  should  please  the  abbot  to  coin  money 
afresh  for  himself,  the  king  would  not  oppose  its  circulation.^ 

Several  regulations  were  made  by  Louis  IX.  to  limit,  as 
far  as  lay  in  his  power,  the  exercise  of  this  baronial  privilege, 
and,  in  particular,  by  enacting  that  the  royal  money  should 
circulate  in  the  domains  of  those  barons  who  had  mints,  con- 
currently with  their  own,  and  exclusively  within  the  territories 
of  those  who  did  not  enjoy  that  right.  Philip  the  Fair 
established  royal  officers  of  inspection  in  every  private  mint. 
It  was  asserted  in  his  reign,  as  a  general  truth,  that  no  subject 
might  coin  silver  money.*  In  fact,  the  adulteration  practised 
in  tliose  baronial  mints  had  reduced  their  pretended  silver  to 
a  sort  of  black  metal,  as  it  was  called  (moneta  nigra),  into 
Avhich  little  entered  but  copper.  Silver,  however,  and  even 
gold,  were  coined  by  the  dukes  of  Britany  so  long  as  that 
fief  continued  to  exist.  No  subjects  ever  enjoyed  the  right 
of  coming  silver  in  England  without  the  royal  stamp  and 
superintendence^  —  a  remarkable  proof  of  the  restraint  in 
which  the  feudal  aristocracy  was  always  held  in  this  country. 

2.  The  passion  of  revenge,  always  among  the  most  ungov- 

1  Vaissette,  Hist,  tie  Languedoo,  t.  ii.  profit  especial,  mais  en  profit  et  en  la 

p.  110  ;  Rec.  des  Historiens,  t.  xi.  pref.  defence  du  commun.     This  was  in  a  pro- 

p.  ISO  ;  Du  Cange,  v.  Moneta.  cess  commenced  by  the  king's  procureur- 

-  Le  Blanc.  Traite  des  Monnoyes,  p.  91.  general  against  the  comte  de  Novers.  for 

3  Du  Cange,  voc.  Moneta  ;  Velly,  Hist,  defacing  his  coin.  — Le  Blanc,  Traite  des 

de  France,  t.  ii.  p.  93;  Villaret,  t.  xiv.  Monnoyes,  p.  92.     In  many  places  the 

p.  200.  lord  took  a  sum  from  his  tenants  every 

*  Du  Cange.  v.  Moneta.     The  right  of  three  years,  under  the  name  of  nione- 

debasing  the  coin  was  also  claimed  by  tagium  or  focagium,  in  lieu  of  debasing 

this    prince  as   a   choice   flower  of   his  his  money.     This  was  finally  abolished 

crown.     Item,  abaisser  et  amenuser  la  in  1830. — Du  Cange.  v.  Monctagium. 

monnoye  est  privilege  especial  an  roy  de  5  I  do  not  extend  this  to  the  fart;  for 

son  droit  royal,  si  que  a  luy  appartient,  in  the  anarchy  of  Stephen's  reign  both 

et  a  non  autre,  et  encore  en  uu  seul  ea.s,  liishops  and  barons   coined   money   for 

c'est  a  scavoir  en  necessite,  et  loi-s  ne  themselves.  —  Hoveden,  p.  490. 
vient  pas  le  ganeg,  ne  convertit  en  son 


Feudal  System.      RIGHT  OF  PRIVATE  WAR.  205 

onial)li'    in   limnan   nature,  acts  with  sucli  violence,,!.  , 

iu\int  of 
Upon  liarbarians,  tliat  it   is  utterly  beyoml   the  eon-  pnvafi- 

trol  ot"  their  inipertect  ari-angements  of  polity.     It 

seeni>  to  them  no  part  of  the  social  compact  to  sacrifice  the 

jirivilcjre    which    nature    has    placed    in    the   arm  of   valor. 

Gradually,  however,  these  tiereer  feelings  are   blunted,  and 

another  passion,  hardly  less    powerful   than  resentment,  is 

brought  to  jday  in  a  contrary  direction.     The  earlier  ol)ject 

jvcordingly  of  jurisprudence  is  to  establish  a  lixed  atonement 

for  injuries,  a-s  much  for  the  preservation  of  tranquillity  as  the 

prevention  of  crime.     Su<-]i  were  the  wercgilds  of  the  l)ar- 

barie  codes,  which,  for  a  ditferent  ])urpose,  I   have  already 

mentioned.^     But  whether  it  were  that  the  kindred  did  not 

always  accept,  or  the  criminal  offer,  the  legal  comi)osition,  or 

that  other  causes  of  quarrel  occurred.  pri\ate  feuds  (faida) 

were  i)erpetually  breaking  out,  and  many  of  Charlemagne's 

capitularies  are  directed  against   them.     After  his  time  all 

hope  of  restraining  so  inveterati*  a  j)ractice  was  at  an  end ;  and 

every  man   who  owned  a  castle   to   shelter  him  in  case  of 

defeat,  and  a  sufficient  number  of  dependents  to  take  the  field, 

was  at  liberty  to  retaliate  upon  his  neighbors  whenever  he 

thought  iiimself  injured.     It  nnist  be  kej)!  in  mind  that  there 

was,  frequently,  either  no  jurisdiction   to    which   he    could 

appeal,  or  no  power  to  enforce  its  awards ;  so  that  we  may 

consider  the  higher  nobility  of  France  as  in  a  state  of  nature 

with   respect  to  each  other,  and  entitled  to  avail  themselves 

of   all  legitimate  grounds  of  hostility.     The  right  of  waging 

private  war  was  moderated  by  Louis  IX.,  checked  by  Philip 

IV.,  suppressed  by  Charles   VI.;  but  a  few  vestiges  of  its 

practice  may  be  found  still  later.^ 

3.  In  the  modern  condition  of  governments,  taxation  is  a 

1  The  antiquity  of  compositions   for  penetrating  eyo  of  that  liistorian :   an.l 

munlcr  \*  lUuHtnitiMl   liy   Iliad   £,  498,  they  are  arranffed  so  well  as  to  form   ii 

when-,  in  the  iles<Ti|ilioii  of  the  shield  of  ronipreheiisive  treatise  in  small  oompass. 

Arliilles.  two  dispnt.'ints  are  represented  I  know  not  that  I  could  add  anv  ninch 

wniirirliiitr  t.efop-  the  jmltre  for  the  were-  worthy  of  notice,    unless  it  he   the   ful- 

(fild  or    price   uf  l.lood ;   tlvtua    TTOCl'f/C  lowinir:  —  In    the  treaty  hetween    I'hilip 

Uftipof  n7CO<p{iljiivov.  Aujrnstns   and    Kirhani    Cuur    de    \,v<i\ 

»The    «uhj.^t    of    private    warfare    U  '"'*^':    t'l''   '■'"''•   r.luse.l    t..  admil^  the 

tr«ito.|  «o  exactly  and  jM-rspicuouslv  hy  •'""■'•""»/'';  ',"'  "'•"''''  ''"",  """",  "^  '  >» 

K..»»Tt«.ii.  that  I  should  only  waste'  the  '"*.'"""''  f  '■'.""'"  '""".  'l''""'''  """''"  "'" 

rwider-s  time  l.v  dwelling  »o  lone  uwm  it  otl'<T;  Icxt  he   should  inlnn-e  the  cus- 

M  It^  exu-nt  »n'd  imi«.runce  would  other-  f""'"  "^  '"'•""  •■""'  '"■"  """;'"  ''■"!'"'"""'. 

wiji«  demand.  -  S-^,  Hist,  of  Charles  V.  '"  •l'"'"'"  'onsuetuu.  erat  ah  atitl.iuo.  ut 

Tol.  1.  note  '21.     Few  lendinit  pass.iu'es  in  ";;•»■'>"'»<•»  «■"";■'■'  pr-prias  n.vi.en,  irla.l  Is 

tlie  monuments  of  the  middle  ajfes  n-la-  ""ctfarent. -- Iloyedeu,  p.  .41  (in  .>;ayille, 

tire    to   thU   Bul.Ject   linvo   escaped   tile  •'^'"l''-  Anglic.) 


206  EEVENUES  OF  FEANCE.     Chap.  II.  Part  II. 

Immunity     ^^^i^f   engine  of   the    well-compactecl    nicicliinery 
from  wliicli  regulates  the  system.     The   paj'ments,  the 

KeTenues  prohibitions,  the  licenses,  the  watchfulness  of  col- 
or kings  of  lection,  the  evasions  of  fraud,  the  penalties  and  for- 
feitures, that  attend  a  fiscal  code  of  laws,  present 
continually  to  the  mind  of  the  most  remote  and  humble  indi- 
vidual the  notion  of  a  supreme,  vigilant,  and  coercive  au- 
thorit}\  But  the  early  European  kingdoms  knew  neither  the 
necessities  nor  the  ingenuity  of  modern  finance.  From  their 
demesne  lands  the  kings  of  France  and  Lombardy  supplied 
the  common  expenses  of  a  barbarous  court.  Even  Charle- 
magne regulated  the  economy  of  his  farms  with  the  minute- 
ness of  a  steward,  and  a  large  portion  of  his  capitularies  are 
directed  to  this  object.  Their  actual  revenue  was  chiefly 
derived  from  free  gifts,  made,  according  to  an  ancient  German 
custom,  at  the  annual  assemblies-^  of  the  nation,  from  amerce- 
ments paid  by  alodial  proprietors  for  default  of  military  ser- 
vice, and  from  the  freda,  or  fines,  accruing  to  the  judge  out 
of  compositions  for  murder.^  These  amounted  to  one  third 
of  the  whole  weregild ;  one  third  of  this  was  paid  over  by 
the  count  to  the  royal  exchequer.  After  the  feudal  govern- 
ment prevailed  in  France,  and  neither  the  heribannum  nor 
the  weregild  continued  in  use,  there  seems  to  have  been 
hardly  any  source  of  regular  revenue  besides  the  domanial 
estates  of  the  crown ;  unless  we  may  reckon  as  such,  that 
during  a  journey  the  king  had  a  prescriptive  right  to  be 
supplied  with  necessaries  by  the  towns  and  abbeys  through 
which  he  passed ;  commuted  sometimes  into  petty  regular 
payments,  called  droits  de  gist  et  de  chevauche.^  Hugh 
Capet  was  nearly  indigent  as  king  of  France,  though,  as 
count  of  Pai'is  and  Orleans,  he  might  take  the  feudal  aids  and 
reliefs  of  his  vassals.  Several  other  small  emoluments  of 
himself  and  his  successors,  whatever  they  may  since  have 
been  considered,  were  in  that  age  rather  seigniorial  than  royal. 
The  rights  of  toll,  of  customs,  of  alienage  (aubaine),  gener- 
ally even  the  regale  or  enjoyment  of  the  temporalities  of 
vacant  episcopal  sees  and  other  ecclesiastical  benefices,*  were 

1  Du  Oange,  Dissertation  quatrifeme  sur  twelfth  century.     But  far  the  most  lu- 
Joinville.  minous   view   of   that    subject,   for   the 

2  Mably.  1.  i.  c.  2,  note  3  ;  Du  Cange  three  next  ages,  is  displayed  by  M.  de 
Toc.  Heribannum,  Fredum.  Pastoret  in  his  prefaces  to  the  fifteenth 

3  Velly,  t.  ii.  p.  329;  Villaret,  t.   xiv.  and  sixteenth   volumes    of   the   Ordon- 
p.  174-195  ;  Recueil  des  Historiens,  t.  xiv.  nances  des  Rois. 

preface,  p.  37-    The  last  is  a  perspicuous        ♦  The  duke  of  Burgundy  and  count  of 
account  of   the  royal    revenue  in    the    Champagne  did  not  possess  the  regale. 


Feudal  System.    EXACTIONS  FROM  THE  JEWS.  207 

possessfd  within  thoir  own  domains  liy  the  groat  fouilatarits  of 
the  crown.  They,  I  ai)prehond.  eontribnted  nothing  to  their 
sovereign,  not  even  those  aids  which  the  t'ondal  cnstoms  en- 
joined.^ 

Tlie  history  of  the  royal  revenue  in  France  is,  however, 
too  iniport:uit  to  bo  shghtly  passed  over.  As  the  Exactions 
nocossities  of  govornmont  increased,  partly  through  fr<>»>  the 
the  love  of  niagniticonco  and  pageantry  introduced  by  "  '  ' 
the  crusades  and  the  tenii)er  of  chivalry,  partly  in  consequence 
of  employing  hired  troops  instead  of  the  feudal  militia,  it 
became  impossible  to  defray  its  expenses  by  the  ordinary 
moans.  Several  devices,  therefore,  were  tried,  in  order  to 
replenish  the  exchequer.  One  of  these  was  by  extorting 
money  from  the  Jews.  It  is  almost  incredible  to  what  a 
length  this  was  carried.  Usury,  tbrbiddon  by  law  and  su- 
perstition to  Christians,  was  confined  to  tlxis  industrious  and 
covetous  people.-  It  is  now  no  secret  that  all  regulations 
interfering  with  the  interest  of  money  render  its  terms  more 
rigorous  and  l)urdensoine.  The  children  of  Israel  grew  rich 
in  despite  of  insult  and  oppression,  and  retaliated  upon  their 
Chri>tian  dolitors.  If  an  historian  of  Phili[)  Augustus  may 
be  believed,  they  possessed  almost  one  half  of  Paris.  Un- 
questionably they  must  have  had  support  both  at  the  court  and 
in  the  halls  of  justice.  The  policy  of  the  kings  of  France  was 
to  emplov  them  as  a  sponge  to  suck  their  subjects'  money, 
which  they  might  afterwards  express  with  less  odium  than 
direct  tiixation  woidd  incur.  Philip  Augustus  released  all 
Christians  in  his  dominions  from  their  debts  to  the  Jews, 
reserving  a  lifth  i>art  to  himself.*  lie  afterwards  expelled  the 
whole  nation  from  France.  But  they  appear  to  have  returned 
again  —  wlu-tlier  by  stealth,  or,  as  is  more  prol)able,  by  pur- 
chasing permission.  St.  Louis  twice  banished  and  twice  recall- 
ed the  Jews.  A  series  of  alternate  persecution  and  tolerance 
was  borne  by  this  extraordinary  people  with  an  invincible 
perseverance,  and  a  talent  of  accumulating  riches  which  kept 

Bat  It  wan  enjoyed  by   nil    the    other  tlon  paid  by  the  yasfialH  of  the  French 

p«-«>ni  :   by  thi- iliikiii  of  N'ommmly,  Out-  crown:  l)Ut  hi  this  nctrntivo  proposition 

eniif.  aii'l   HrilJiny  ;    tlic-  loiintx  of  Tnu-  it  is  ixiBsililc  that  I  may  lie  ili'ci-ivi'il. 

louM-,    I'oitnii.    nnil    KUimlpni. — Miibly,  *  The  .Ii-ws  were  cclelinitcil  for  usury 

1.  ill.  c.  4:   Iti-oufil  ilcH  HistJirii-nH,  t.  il.  ns   early  an    the  sixtli    century. — <lrc){. 

p.  '££>.  and   t.  xIt.  i>.  M;  OnlunuanccM  Turon.l.  iv.  c.  12,  and  1.  vii.  c.  2.'J. 

(Uw  Itnl*.  t.  I.  p.  tal.  1  Iti^'ord.  in    Du   Chesne.  Hiift.   Franc. 

>  I  liare  neTer  met  with  any  inntance  Script,  t.  iii.  p.  8. 
of  a  relief,  aid,  or  other  feudal  contrlbu- 


208  DEBASEMENT   OF  THE  COIN.    Chap.  II.  Part  II. 

pace  with  their  phinderers  ;  till  new  schemes  of  finance  sup- 
plying the  turn,  thej  were  finally  expelled  under  Charles  VL, 
and  never  afterwards  obtained  any  legal  establishment  in 
France.^ 

A  much  more  extensive  plan  of  rapine  was  carried  on  by 
lowerins    the    standard    of    coin.       Orijirinally   the 

Debjise-  o  »' 

meut  of  pound,  a  money  of  account,  was  equivalent  to 
the  com.  twelve  ounccs  of  silver ;  ^  and  divided  into  twenty 
pieces  of  coin  (sous),  each  equal  consecpiently  to  nearly  three 
shillings  and  four  pence  of  our  new  English  money.^  At  the 
revolution  the  money  of  France  had  been  depreciated  in  the 
proportion  of  seventy-three  to  one,  and  the  sol  was  about 
equal  to  an  English  halfpenny.  This  was  the  effect  of  a 
long  continuance  of  fraudulent  and  arbitrary  government. 
The  abuse  began  under  Philip  I.  in  1103,  Avho  alloyed  his 
silver  coin  with  a  third  of  copper.  So  good  an  example  was 
not  lost  upon  .subsequent  pi-inces  ;  till,  under  St.  Louis,  the 
mark-weight  of  silver,  or  eight  ounces,  was  equivalent  to 
fifty  sous  of  the  debased  coin.  Nevertheless  these  changes 
seem  hitherto  to  have  produced  no  discontent ;  whether  it 
were  that  a  people  neither  commercial  nor  enlightened  did 
not  readily  perceive  their  tendency ;  or,  as  has  been  ingeni- 
ously conjectured,  that  these  successive  diminutions  of  the 
standard  were  nearly  counterbalanced  by  an  augmentation  in 
the  value  of  silvei",  occasioned  by  the  drain  of  money  during 
the  crusades,  with  which  they  were  about  contemporaneous.* 
But  the  rapacity  of  Philip  the  Fair  kept  no  measures  with 
the  public ;  and  the  mark  in  his  reign  had  become  equal 
to  eight  livres,  or  a  hundi'ed  and  sixty  sous  of  money.     Dis- 

1  Tillaret,  t.  ix.  p.  4.3.3.  Metz  con-  seems  not  to  have  been  much  observed 
tained,  and  I  suppose  still  contains,  a  by  those  who  had  previously  written 
great  many  .Tews  ;  but  Jletz  was  not  part     upon  the  subject. 

of  the  ancient  kingdom.  3  Besides  this  silver  coin  there  was  a 

2  In  every  edition  of  this  work,  till  golden  sol,  worth  forty  pence.  Le  Blanc 
that  of  1846.  a  strange  misprint  has  ap-  thinks  the  solidi  of  the  Salic  law  and 
peared  of  «(W/j(.V  instead  of  «!Cf/i'f  ounces,  capitularies  mean  the  latter  piece  of 
as  the  division  of  the  pound  of  silver,  nionej'.  The  denarius,  or  penny,  was 
Most  readers  will  correct  this  for  them-  worth  two  sous  six  deniers  of  modern 
selves  ;  but  it  is  more  material  to  observe  French  coin. 

that,  according  to  what  we  find  in  the  4  Villaret,  t.  xiv.  p.  198.     The  price  of 

Memoires     de    I'Acad.    des    Inscriptions  commoilities,  he  asserts,  did  not  rise  till 

(Nouvelle   Serie).   vol.   xiv.   p.   234,   the  the  time  of  St.  Louis.     If  this  be  said  on 

pound  in  the  time  of  Charlemagne  was  good  authority  it  is  a  remarkable  fact  ; 

not  of  12  ounces,  but  of  13'.     We  must,  but  in   England  we   know  very  little  of 

therefore,  add  one  ninth  to  the  value  of  prices  before  that  period,  and  I  doubt  if 

the  sol.  so  long  as  this  continvied  to  be  their  history  has  been  better  traced  in 

the  case.    I  do  not  know  the  proofs  upon  France, 
which  this  assertion  rests;  but  the  tact 


Feudal  System.  DIRFXT  TAXATIOX.  209 

8ati?tai'fion.  niul  even  tumults  arose  in  consoqnenoo,  and  he 
was  c'oniiu'lled  to  rosti>ro  tlie  coin  to  its  standanl  under  St. 
Louis.^  His  successors  practised  the  same  arts  of  enriching 
tiieir  treasury  ;  under  Phili|>  of  Valois  the  mark  Avas  apiin 
worth  eigiu  livres.  But  the  lihn  hatl  now  dropped  from  the 
eves  of  the  people  ;  and  these  adulterations  of  money,  ren- 
dered more  vexatious  by  continued  recoinages  of  the  current 
pieces,  uj>on  which  a  fee  was  extorted  by  the  moueyers, 
showed  in  their  true,  light  as  mingled  fraud  and  robbery.- 

These  resources  of  government,  however,  by  no  means  su- 
perseded the  necessity  of  nuire  direct  taxation,  pircct 
The  kinirs  of  France  exacteil  monev  from  the  ro-  '"^''''on. 
turiers,  and  particularly  the  inhabitants  of  towns,  witliiu  their 
domains.  In  this  they  only  acted  as  proprietors,  or  suze- 
rains ;  and  the  barons  took  the  same  course  in  their  own 
huids.  Philip  Augustus  first  ventured  upon  a  stretch  of  pre- 
rogiitive,  which,  in  the  words  of  his  l)iographer,  disturbed  all 
France.  He  deprived  by  force,  says  Rigord,  l)oth  his  own 
vassal-,  who  had  been  accustomed  to  bo;\st  of  tlieir  immuni- 
ties, and  their  feudal  tenant>,  of  a  third  part  of  their  goods.^ 
Such  arbitrarv  taxation  of  the  nobility,  who  deemed  that  tlieir 
military  service  discharged  them  from  all  pecuniary  burdens, 
France  was  fiir  too  aristocrat ical  a  country  to  bear.  It  seems 
not  to  have  Iteen  repeated ;  and  his  successors  generally  pur- 
sued more  legitimate  courses.  Upon  obtaining  any  contribu- 
tion, it  wa<  u-ual  to  grant  letters-patent,  declaring  that  it  had 
been  freely  given,  and  should  not  be  turned  into  precedent  in 
time  to  come.  S(-veral  of  the<e  letters-patent  of  Philip  the 
Fair  are  extant,  and  [)ublished  in  the  general  collection  of 

•  It  U  curious,  and  not  periiaps  unim-  telle  monnoye   comme    Ton    aura    em- 

portniit.  to    learn  the  course  pursued  in  i)runt6.  si  I'lle  a  plciu   cours  au  temps 

adjuHtiiiif   paynieiit«    U|>on    the   restoni-  du   |>ayenient.  et  sition.  ills  puyeroiit  en 

tion  of  (rood  coin,  whicii  ImppemM)  pret-  monnoye  oounoible,  lors  selon  la  valeur 

ty  frequently  in  the  fourtet-iith  century,  et   le  prix  du  mure  d'or  ou  d'ar^ent  :  p. 

when     the    Stiite-i-ljenenil.    or    impular  32. 

cliiinor.  forcfil    the   court    to   retnut   its  -  Continuator  Qui.  de  N'anifis  in  Spici- 

friudulent   policy.      Ije    lllanc   has   pub-  lepio,  t.  iii.     For  the  successive  chanRes 

llslied   Hoveral    urdinances   nearly   to  the  in   the  value  of  Krench  coins  the  reader 

same  efliTt.     One  of  I'harle.x  VI.  explains  may   consult    IjO  Hlanc's   treatise,  or   the 

the   metho<I  adupti-d    nither  more   fully  Onionnaiices  des    Hois;  also  a    disserbi- 

tlian  the  rwit.     All  dehtx   incurriHl  since  tion  by   Ilonaniy  in  the  Mem.  <lv  I'Acad. 

the  ileprwiated  cnhi    bepin    t/i  circnlat*'  des  Inscriptions,  t.  xxxii :  or  he  may  tind 

were  to  be  [mid  in  that  coin,  or  according  a  summary  view  of  them  in  Dn  Canifc,  v. 

to  itx  value.     Tlio«- lncnrre<J   pn-viously  Moiicta.     The  bad  <'Mn.'^e  lueiiccs  of  these 

to  it"  comnien'i'nii-nt  win- to  be  paid  ac-  innovations    are    well    tri'at<-d    by   M-    de 

conlioK    Ui  the  value  of  the    money  clr-  I'.istoret,  in   his  elaborate   preface  to   the 

culathiK   »'    the    time   of   the   contnict.  sixte«'nth    volume   of    the    Ordouuanrcd 

Item,   ')Ue  tou»    le«  vnils  emprunti  faits  des  Koi«,  p.  4<l 

en   deniem   i»aiii>    fraude  iw  |iaycrout   en  '■>  Du  CheHue,  t.  v.  p.  43. 

vol..    I.  14 


210  NO   SUPEEME  LEGISLATION.    Chap.  II.  Part  II. 

ordinances.^     But  in  the  reign  of  this  monarch  a  great  inno- 
vation tooli  place  in  the  French  constitution,  which,  tliough  it 
principally  affected  the  method  of  levying  money,  may  seem 
to  fall  more  naturally  under  the  next  head  of  consideration. 
4.  There  is  no   part  of  the  French   feudal  policy  so  re- 
markable  as   the   entire   absence  of  all  supreme 
^preme         legislation.     We  find  it  difficult   to   conceive  the 
legislative       existcuce   of   a   political    society,    nominally    one 
on  y.       iji,jg(|oii^  and  under  one  head,  in  which,  for  more 
than  three  hundred  years,  there  was  wanting  the  most  essen- 
tial attribute  of  govei-nmenf.     It  will  be  requisite,  however, 
to  take  this  up   a  little  higher,  and  inquire  what   was  the 
original  legislature  of  the  French  monarchy. 

Arbitrary  rule,  at  least  in  theory,  was  uncongenial  to  the 
character  of  the  northern  nations.  Neither  the 
legislative  power  of  making  laws,  nor  that  of  applying  them 
assemblies  ^q  ([^q  circumstanccs  of  particular  cases,  was  left  at 
the  discretion  of  the  sovereign.  The  Lombard 
kings  held  assemblies  every  year  at  Pavia,  where  the  chief 
officers  of  the  crown  and  proprietors  of  lands  deliberated 
upon  all  legislative  measures,  in  the  presence,  and  nominally 
at  least  with  the  consent,  of  the  multitude.^  Frequent  men- 
tion is  made  of  similar  public  meetings  in  France  by  the  his- 
torians of  the  Merovingian  kings,  and  still  more  unequivocally 
by  their  statutes.^  These  assemblies  have  been  called  parlia- 
ments of  the  Champ  de  jNIars,  having  orginally  been  held  in 
the  month  of  March.  But  they  are  supposed  by  many  to 
have  gone  much  into  disuse  under  the  later  Merovingian 
kings.  That  of  615,  the  most  important  of  wdiich  any  traces 
remain,  was  at  the  close  of  the  great  revolution  which  pun- 

i  Fasons  scavoir  et  recognoissons  que  omni  populo  assistente.  —  Muratori,  Dis- 

la  derniere  subvention  que  ils  nous  out  sert.  22. 

faite  (les  barons,  vassaux,et  nobles  d'Au-  3  Mably,  1.  i.  c.  i.  note  1;  Lindebrog. 

vergne)  de  pure  grace  sans  ce  que  ils  y  Codex  Legum  Antiquarum,  p.  363,  369. 

fussent  tenus  que  de  grace  :  et  voulons  et  The  following  passage,  quoted  by  Mably 

leur  octroyones  que  les  autres  subven-  (c.  ii.  n.  6),  from  the  preamble   of  the 

tions  que  ils  nous  ont  faites  ne  leur  facent  revised  Salic  law  under  Clotaire  II.,  is 

nul  prejudice,  es  choses  esquelles  ils-n'e-  explicit :  Temporibus  Clotairii  regis  un4 

toient  tenus,  ne  parce  uul  nouveau  droit  cum  principibus  suis,  id  est  33  episcopis 

ne  nous  soit  acquis  ne  amenuisie.  —  Or-  et  34  ducibus  et  79  comitibus,  vel  caetero 

donnance  de  1304.  apud  Mably,  1.  iv.  c.  populo  constituta  est.     A  remarkable  in- 

3,  note  5.     See  other  authorities  In  the  stance  of  the  use  of  vel  instead  of  et, 

same  place.  which  was  not  uncommon,  and  is  noticed 

2  Liutprand,   king   of   the   Lombards,  by  Du  Cange,  under  the  word  Vel.     An- 

says  that  his  laws  sibi  placuisse  uni  cum  other  proof  of  it  occurs  in  the  very  next 

omnibus  judicibus  de  Austriie  et  Ncus-  quotation  of  Mably  from   the   edict   of 

trife  partibus,  et  de  Tusciaj  finibus,  cum  615  :  cum  pontificibus,  vel  cum  magnis 

reliquis  fidelibus  meis  Langobardis,  et  viris  optimatibus. 


Feudal  System.         LEGISLAXnTE  ASSEMBLIES.  J 1  1 

ished  Bnincliaut  for  a-piring  to  (lesi)otic  power.  Wliftlier 
the-e  as.-L'inlilies  were  coiuposoil  of  any  except  prelates,  gri  at 
l:\inlliolders,  or  what  we  may  call  nobles,  and  the  Antnistions 
of  the  king,  is  still  an  unsettled  point.  Some  have  even  sup- 
jx><ed.  since  hisliops  are  oidy  mentioned  by  name  in  the  great 
statute  of  Clotaire  II.  in  dl."),  that  they  were  then  present  for 
the  tirst  time  ;  and  Sismondi,  forgetting  this  tact,  has  gone 
so  far  as  to  think  that  Pt-pin  first  admitted  the  [>r.'lates  to 
national  councils.^  But  the  constitutions  of  the  .Merovingian 
kin«i-s  freqnentlv  bear  upon  ecclesiastical  regulations,  and  nui-t 
liave  been  prompted  at  least  by  the  iwlvice  of  the  bishops. 
Their  influence  was  immense ;  and  though  the  Kumans 
generallv  are  not  supposed  to  have  been  admitted  by  right 
of  territorial  property  to  the  national  assemblies,  there  can  be 
no  improbabilitv  in  presuming  tiiat  the  chiefs  of  the  church, 
espcciallv  when  some  of  them  were  barliarians,  stood  in  a 
ditferent  iK)sition.  We  know  this  was  so  at  least  in  G15,  and 
nothing  leads  to  a  conclusion  tliat  it  was  for  the  first  time. 

It  is  far  more  difhcult  to  determine  the  participation  of  the 
Frank  people,  the  alodialists  or  Rdchimburgii,  in  these  as- 
semblies of  the  Field  of  March.  Tiiey  could  not,  it  is  said, 
easilv  have  repaired  thither  from  all  parts  of  France.  But 
while  the  monarchy  wa<  diviiled,  and  all  the  left  bank  of  the 
Loire,  in  consequence  of  tlic  i)aucity  of  Fi'anks  settled  there, 
was  hardlv  coimecti'(l  poliiically  with  any  section  of  it,  there 
does  not  seem  an  im|)rol (ability  that  the  subjects  of  a  king  of 
Paris  or  Soissons  might  have  been  numerously  present  ui 
those  capitals.  It  is  generally  allowed  that  they  attended 
with  annual  gifts  to  their  sovereign  ;  though  perhaps  these 
were  chi<'tly  l)rought  by  the  beneficiary  tenants  and  wealthy 
alodialists.  We  certaiidy  find  expressions,  some  of  which  I 
liave  ([uoted,  indicating  a  popidar  assent  to  the  resolutions 
takcMi,  or  laws  enacted,  in  the  Field  of  March.  Perliap-  the 
m<ist  probal)le  hypothesis  may  be  that  the  presence  ot  the 
nation  was  traditionally  required  in  conformity  to  the  ancient 

1  Voltaire   (Kn«ii    nur    I'llixtoire    Uni-  tlie  early  French  history,    nncl   nmuHeii 

Tcp«'ll<-)  n«rTil><"<  thin  t/)  the  eliler  i'epiu,  hiuicclf  by  (juestioiiiiii;  the  iiiiiyt  iiublic 

■  urn:iiiii-<l  ll.ri«t.il.  niii\  qimteH  the  An-  ft«    well  art    prohuhle   facts,   such    an   the 

nal«  'if  M.tie  for  tVTl :  but  neither  under  death   of  Hninehaut.     The   coiii|ilinieiit 

that  v«ir  nor  any  other  do  I  tlml  n  word  which  Kolj<'rt'«in   has   paid  to  Voltaire's 

to  the  puriK)-**.     Vet  he  poiniKuisly  an-  hintorical    knowle(l(:e   is   much   exa^tfer- 

nouiires  thi»  iw  "  an  ejiorh  not  nyanled  ated   n'latively   to  the  niediiival  perioil ; 

by  hi»tori.in»'.  but  that  of  the  teniponil  the  latter  history  of  hiii  country  he  poi»- 

power  of  the  church  in   Kreiice  ami  (!er-  wsm-d  very  well. 
many."     Voltaire  knew  but  8U|>erllcially 


212  LEGISLATIVE  ASSEMBLIES.      Chap.  IL  Part  IL 

German  usage,  which  had  not  been  formally  abolished ; 
while  the  ditiieulty  of  prevailing  on  a  dispersed  people  to 
meet  every  year,  as  well  as  the  enhanced  influence  of  the 
kins:  through  his  armed  Antrustions,  soon  reduced  the  free- 
men  to  little  more  than  spectators  from  the  neighboring  dis- 
tricts. We  find  indeed  that  it  was  with  reluctance,  and  by 
means  of  coercive  fines,  that  they  were  induced  to  attend  the 
mallus  of  their  count  for  judicial  purposes.-^ 

Although  no  legislative  proceedings  of  the  Merovingian 
line  are  extant  after  615,  it  is  intimated  by  early  writers  that 
Pepin  Heristal  and  his  son  Charles  Martel  restored  the 
national  council  after  some  interruption ;  and  if  the  language 
of  certain  historians  be  correct,  they  rendered  it  considerably 
popular.'^ 

Pepin  the  younger,  after  his  accession  to  the  throne,  chang- 
ed the  month  of  this  annual  assembly  from  March  to  May ; 
and  we  have  some  traces  of  what  took  place  at  eight  sessions 
during  his  reign.^  Of  his  capitularies,  however,  one  only  is 
said  to  be  made  in  generali  populi  conventu  ;  the  rest  are  en- 
acted in  synods  of  bishops,  and  all  without  exception  relatfe 
merely  to  ecclesiastical  affairs.*  And  it  must  be  owned  that, 
as  in  those  of  the  first  dynasty,  we  find  generally  mention  of 
the  optimates  who  met  in  these  conventions,  but  rarely  any 
word  that  can  be  construed  of  ordinary  freemen. 

Such,  indeed,  is  the  impression  conveyed  by  a  remarkable 
passage  of  Hincmar,  archbishop  of  Rheims,  during  the  time 
of  Charles  the  Bald,  who  has  preserved,  on  the  authority  of  a 
Avriter  contemporary  with  Charlemagne,  a  sketch  of  the 
Assemblies  Frankish  government  under  that  great  prince, 
held  by  Two    assemblies    (})lacita)    were    annually     held, 

magae!  I"  the  first,  all  regulations  of  importance  to   the 

1  Mably  generally  strives  to  make  the  government  only  the  preponderance  of 

most  of  any  vestige  of  popular  govern-  the  kings  during  one  period,  and  that  of 

ment,  and  Sismondi  is  not  exempt  from  the  aristocracy  during  another, 
a  similar  bias.    He  overrates  the  liberties        "  The  first  of  these  Austrasian  dukes, 

of  the   Franks.     "  Leurs  dues  et   leurs  say  the  Annals  of  Metz,  "  Singulis  annis 

comtes  etaient  electifs:   leurs   generaux  in  KalendisMartii  generale  cum  omnibus 

etaientchoisis  par  lessoldats,  leurs  grands  Francis,  secundum  priscorum  consuetu- 

juges  ou  maires  par  les  hommes  libres  "  dineni,  concilium  agebat."     The  second, 

(vol.  ii.   p.  87.)      But  no  part  of  the.se  according  to  the  biographer  of  St.  Salvian 

privileges  can  be  inferred  from  the  exist-  —  "  jussit  campum  magnum  parari,  sicut 

lug  histories  or  other  documents.     The  mos  erat  Francoruui.     Venerunt  autem 

dukes  and  counts  were,  as  we  find   by  optimates  et  magistratus,  omnisque  pop- 

Marculfus    and    other    evidence,    solely  ulus."     See   the   quotations   in   Guizot. 

appointed  by  the  crown.     A  great  deal  (Essais  sur  I'Hist.  de  France,  p.  321.) 
of  personal  liberty  may  have  been  pi'e-        -J  Essais  sur  I'Hist.  de  France,  p.  324. 
served  by  means  of  the  local  assemblies        <  Rec.  des  Hist.  v.  637. 
of  the  Franks ;  but  we  find  in  the  general 


Fecd.vl  System.    LKGISLATIVE  ASSEMBLIES. 


!13 


public  weal  for  the  eiisiiiiiir  year  were  enacted  ;  and  to 
tlii.-;,  he  <avs,  the  whole  body  of  clerjry  and  laity  reiiaircd; 
the  <rreater,  to  deliberate  upon  what  was  fittiujr  to  be  done; 
and  the  les^!,  to  coutinn  by  their  voluntary  assent,  not  thnmirh 
deference  to  power,  or  sometimes  even  to  discuss,  the  resolu- 
tions of  their  superiors.*  In  the  second  annual  assembly  tlie 
chief  men  and  otlicers  of  state  were  alone  admitted,  to  consult 
upon  the  most  urireiit  atlairs  of  irovernmeut.  They  debated, 
in  each  of  these,  upon  certain  capitularies,  or  short  i)roposals, 
laitl  before  them  by  tlie  king.  The  clergy  and  nobles  met  in 
separate  chambers,  though  sometimes  united  lor  the  purposes 
of  delil)eration.  In  these  assemblies,  ])riucipally,  I  presume, 
in  the  more  numerous  of  tiie  two  annually  sununoned.  that 
extensive  body  of  laws,  the  capitularies  of  Charlemagne, 
were  enacted.  And  though  it  would  contradict  the  testimony 
ju<t  ailduced  from  llincmar,  to  suppose  that  the  lesser  free- 
holders took  a  very  effective  share  in  pul)lic  counsels,  yet 
thi'ir  j)resence.  and  the  usage  of  reipiiring  their  assent, 
indicate  the  liberal  i)riuciples  upon  which  the  system  of 
Charleniagne  was  tbunded.  It  is  continually  expressed  in  his 
capitularies  and  those  of  his  family  that  they  were  enacted  by 
general  consent.'''  In  one  of  Louis  the  Debonair,  we  even 
trace  the  first  germ  of  represeiuative  legislation.  Every 
count  is  directed  to  bring  witli  him  to  the  general  assembly 
twelve  Scabini,  if  there  sliould  lie  so  many  in  iiis  county  ;  or, 
if  not.  should  till  uj)  the  number  otu  of  the  most  res})eclable 
persons  resident.''  These  Sciil)ini  were  judicial  assessors  of 
the  coimt,  cho>en  by  the  alodial  proprietors,  in  the  county 
court,  or  malhis,  though  generally  on  his  nomination.* 

1  Con-'urtmlo  tunc  temfxtris  tain  crat,  esse  consuimus.  (a.d.  801.)     Ut  populua 

ut   nnri   Kn>piim,  sed  hix   in  anno  plnrita  intermgetur   de   capitnlis    qiiie    in    Wge 

Juo  U'lien-ntiir.     Unuin,  qu:iii>l<>  ordinii-  nnvitcr  lulJitii  nunt,  ct  postiiuani  (mines 

tintnr  ntntui'   totiu."    rt'jfni  ad  anni   vcr-  oonscnsorint,    snh.xcriptionfM    et    nianu- 

tonii.H  Hpatiuni  ;  ijiiod  onlinatiini  nnlluM  flnnatinncs  sua.^  in  ipsin  rapitulis  I'aciant. 

eri-ntuK  n-rnni,    ni'<i   sninina    niTi'f«ita.-<,  (a. I).  813.)    Capitularia  iiatris  nixtri  iiniv 

(juif    xiniilitiT    toti    ni;nf>    inrnnilM-liat.  Kranci    pro    Ififc    ti-ncnda    jndicavi-runt 

niilt-'iliat.       In     <|iio     placito    p-Iic-nilitu.-"  (.\.t>.  WiT.)     I   have  borrowed   these  qiio- 

univ<T-oriini   niajoruin,   tain    elerioorum  tationi*  from    Malily,  who   remarks   that 

quani    laieornin.    eonveiiiehat :     wniort'S  the  word  /xipiiliis  in  never    used  in    tho 

propter  c-onf<iliuni  onlinaiiduin  :  ininoren.  earlier  laws.    See,  too,  Uu  Can^^e.  vv.  I.ex, 

propter   i'leni   runxilinm    HtiM-ipiendiini,  Mallnni.  i'artuin. 

et  iiiti-nluHi  pariter  trartHiidnni,  et  non  '  Viilt  doininns  Imjierator  nt  in   tale 


ex  (•oti.i>tate,  m.<I  cx  proprio  mentis  in- 
telh-etn  re!  scnti-nttJ,  eonflrmandum. 
Ilineniar,  Kpist.  Tj.  de  orline  palatii.  I 
liavi-  nof  (nin«lBleil  tlie  word  majorum 
in  till'  aliovi'  'inoijitioii.  not  appn-liend- 
In;.' it- ~Mi«'      (VriTK.WI.J 

'Cnpltnln    qnie     pnrt^rito    nnno    lej;! 


plaeitnin  quale  ille  nuiie  jusserit,  veniat 
unusc|iiis(|ue  ooines.  et  addiicat  secum 
ilnodi'rim  sealiinos  si  tinti  t'nerint  ;  sin 
aniem.  de  nieliorihns  hominilms  illius 
romibitus  suppleat  nunierum  dnodeua- 
riuni.     Malily,  I.  ii.  e.  il. 

*  This  seems  to  In-  Huftl'iently  proved 


Balico;  cuiu  oiunium   cohwdiiu  addenda     by  .Savigny  (Tul.  i.  p.   VJ"-.  217,  ''  I'ust)- 


2U 


LEGISLATIVE  ASSEMBLIES.     Chap.  II.  Pakt  II. 


The  circumstances,  however,  of  the  French  empire  for  sev- 
eral subsequent  ages  were  exceedingly  adverse  to  such  en- 
larged schemes  of  polity.  The  nobles  contemned  the  imbecile 
descendants  of  Charlemagne ;  and  the  people,  or  lesser  free- 
holders, if  they  escaped  absolute  villenage,  lost  their  immedi- 
ate relation  to  the  supreme  government  in  the  subordination 
to  their  lord  established  by  the  feudal  law.  Yet  we  may 
trace  the  shadow  of  ancient  popular  rights  in  one  constitution- 
al function  of  high  importance,  the  choice  of  a  sovereign. 
Historians  who  relate  the  election  of  an  emperor  or  king  of 
France  seldom  omit  to  specify  the  consent  of  the  multitude,  as 
well  as  of  the  temporal  and  spiritual  aristocracy ;  and  even  in 
solemn  instruments  that  record  such  transactions  we  find  a  sort 
of  importance  attached  to  the  popular  suffrage.^     It  is  surely 


His  opinion  is  adopted  by  Meyer,  Quizot, 
Grimm,  and  Troja.  The  last  of  these  has 
found  Scabini  mentioned  in  Lombai-dy  as 
early  as  724;  though  Savigny  had  re- 
jected all  documents  in  which  they  are 
named  anterior  to  Charlemagne. 

The  Scabini  are  not  to  be  confounded, 
as  sometimes  has  been  tlie  case,  with  the 
Rachimburgii,  who  were  not  chosen  by 
the  alodial  proprietors,  but  were  them- 
selves such,  or  sometimes,  perhaps,  bene- 
ficiaries, summoned  by  the  court  as 
jurors  were  in  England.  They  answered 
to  the  prii(V  homines,  boiii  homines,  of 
later  times;  they  formed  the  county  or 
the  hundred  court,  for  the  determina- 
tion of  civil  and  criminal  causes.  [Note 
XVI.} 

1  It  has  been  intimated  in  another 
place,  p.  154,  that  the  French  monarchy 
seems  not  to  have  beea  strictly  hereditary 
under  the  later  kings  of  the  Merovingian 
race:  at  least  expressions  indicating  a 
lormal  election  are  frequently  employed 
by  historians.  Pepin  of  course  came  in 
by  the  choice  of  the  nation.  At  his  death 
he  requested  the  consent  of  the  counts 
and  prelates  to  the  succession  of  his  sons 
(Baluzii  Capitularia,  p.  187);  though  they 
had  bound  themselves  by  oath  at  his 
consecration  never  to  elect  a  king  out  of 
another  family.  Ut  nunqnam  de  alteri- 
us  lumbis  regem  eligere  prassumant. 
(Formula  Consecrationis  Pippini  in  Re- 
cueil  des  Historiens,  t.  v.)  In  the  instru- 
ment of  partition  by  Charlemagne  among 
his  descendants  he  provides  for  their  im- 
mediate succession  in  absolute  terms, 
without  any  mention  of  consent.  But 
in  the  event  of  the  decease  of  one  of  his 
sons  leaving  a  child,  zvhom  the  people 
shall  choose,  the  other  princes  were  to 
permit  him  to  reign.  Baluze,  p.  440. 
This  is  repeated  more  perspicuously  in 


the  partition  made  by  Louis  I.  in  817. 
Si  quis  eorum  decedens  legitimes  filios 
reliquerit,  nou  inter  eos  potestas  ipsa 
dividatur,  sed  potius  populus  pariter 
conveniens,  uuum  ex  iis,  quem  domiuus 
voluerit,  eligat,  et  hunc  senior  frater  in 
loco  fratris  et  filii  recipiat.  Baluze,  p. 
577.  Proofs  of  popular  consent  given  to 
the  succession  of  kings  during  the  two 
next  centuries  are  frequent,  but  of  less 
importance  on  accout  of  the  irregular 
condition  of  government.  Even  after 
Hugh  Capefs  accession,  hereditary  right 
was  far  from  being  established.  The  first 
six  kings  of  this  dynasty  procured  the 
couplation  of  their  sons  by  having  them 
crowned  during  their  own  lives.  And 
this  was  not  done  without  the  consent 
of  the  chief  vassals.  (Kecueil  des  Hist. 
t.  xi.  p.  1.33.)  In  the  reign  of  Robert  it 
was  a  great  question  whether  the  elder 
son  should  be  thus  designated  as  heir  in 
preference  to  his  younger  brother,  whom 
the  queen,  Constance,  was  anxious  to 
place  upon  the  throne.  Odolric,  liishop 
of  Orleans,  writes  to  Fulbert,  bishop  of 
Cliartres,  in  terms  wliich  lead  one  to  thinli 
that  neither  hereditary  succession  nor 
primogeniture  was  settled  on  any  fixed 
principle.  (Id.  t.  x.  p.  504.)  And  a 
writer  in  the  same  collection,  about  tho 
year  1000,  expresses  himself  in  the  fol- 
lowing manner  :  Melius  est  election! 
principis  non  subscribere,  quim  post 
suliscriptionem  electum  coutemnere  ;  in 
altero  enim  libertatis  amor  laudatur,  in 
altero  servilis  contumacia  probro  datur. 
Tres  namque  generates  electiones  novi- 
mus;  quarum  una  est  regis  vel  inipera- 
toris,  altera  pontificis,  altera  abbatis.  Et 
primam  qnidem  facit  concordia  totius 
regni;  secundam  vero  unanimitas  ci^ium 
etcleri;  tertiam  .sanius  consilium  coeno- 
bitica;  congregatiouis.    (Id.  p.  626.)    At 


Feudal  System.     LEGISLATIVE  ASSEMBLIES. 


21o 


less  probalilo  that  a  recoixnition  of  tlii>  olectivc  right  shouM 
have  l)t'fii  iiiiruiUiceil  as  a  moiv  ri'ivinoiiy,  tlian  that  tho  t'luin 
should  have  survived  alter  length  of  time  and  revolutions  of  gov- 
enunent  had  ahnost  ohlittn-au'd  the  recoUeetion  of  its  meaning. 

It  must,  iiowever,  he  impossible  to  ascertain  even  the  theo- 
retical privileges  of  the  subjects  of  Charlemagne,  much  more 
to  decide  how  far  they  were  sul)stantial  or  illusory.  AYe  qhu 
only  assert  in  general  that  there  continued  to  be  some  mix- 
ture of  democracy  in  the  French  constitution  during  the 
reigns  of  Charlemagne  and  his  lirst  successors.  The  prime- 
val German  institutions  were  not  erailicated.  In  the  capitu- 
laries the  consent  of  tlie  people  is  frequently  expressed.  Fif- 
ty years  after  Charlemagne,  his  grandson  Charles  the  Bald 
succinctly  expresses  the  theory  of  legislative  power.  A  law, 
he  says,  is  made  by  the  people's  consent  and  the  king's  enact- 
ment.^ It  would  hardly  be  warranted  by  analogy  or  prece- 
dent to  interpret  the  word  i)eo[)le  so  very  narrowly  as  to 
exclude  any  alodial  proprietors,  among  whom,  howe\  er  une- 
qual in  opulence,  no  legal  ine([uality  of  rank  is  supposed  to 
have  yet  arisen. 

But  by  whatever  authority  laws  were  enacte<l,  whoever  were 
the  eon.-tituent  members  of  national  assemblies,  they  ceased 
to  be  held  in  about  seventy  years  from  the  death  of  Charle- 
magne. The  latest  capitularies  are  of  Carloman  in  882.'^ 
From  this  time  there  ensues  a  long  blank  in  the  history  of 
French  legislation.  The  kingdom  was  as  a  great  iief,  or 
rather  as  a  bundle  of  fiefs,  and  the  king  little  more  than  one 
of  a  numl)er  of  feudal  nobles,  ditl'ering  rather  in  dignity  than 
in  jKjwer  from  some  (jf  the  rest.     The  royal  council  was  eom- 


the  coronation  of  Philip  I.,  in  1059.  the 
nobility  imil  [io<i|>lo(niilit<-Kvt  popiili  t;im 
majores)  ijuini  niinores )  te.itiflcd  tlii-ir 
conricMit  hy  cryini;,  IjauJiiniUi*,  vnlumu.'t, 
fiat.  T.  xi.  p.  *J.  I  Kupposc',  if  scarfli 
wprpiiiailc.  that  hiniilar  tc^tiiiioiiii-s  iiiii;ht 
lie  foiiiiil  htill  liit<T;  aiiJ  [jcrhapH  liereJi- 
tary  Huccctxioii  cannot  he  coMHiilcreJ  lu 
a  fumlamcntal  law  till  the  Tvign  of  Phil- 
ip Au^funtun,  the  cni  of  many  chaugeii 
iu  the  French  coiixlitution. 

Sixmon'li  ha«  i^one  a  (fn-at  ileiil  farther 
down,  ami  otwrvefi  thnt,  thoni;h  .l<ihn 
aA'iiini-il  the  roval  power  inwiif.liately  on 
thf  <l>-ath  »{  hi'  fatlK-r.  in  13.'jl),  he'  diil 
not  tiik<-  the  naini-  of  kiiiK.  "or  any  M-al 
but  that  of  (liike  of  Norniandy,  till 
hU  coronation,  lie  nayn,  however.  "  no- 
tro   ruysuuie"    lu   UIk    iiutruuientM   (x. 


375).  Even  Charles  V.  caller!  himself,  or 
wiui  called  by  some,  duke  of  N'oniiandy 
until  his  coniuatiou  :  but  all  the  lawyers 
called  hiiu  kinj;  (xi.  (>).  The  lawyers  li.id 
ejitablislied  their  maxim  that  the  kinn 
never  dies;  which,  howevi'r,  was  un- 
known while  any  traces  of  elective  mou- 
ar<'hy  remained. 

'  l^ex  consensu  populi  fit,  congtitutione 
regis,     llei-ueil  des  Hist.  t.  vii.  ]>.  ti56. 

-  It  is  generally  sjiid  that  the  capitula- 
ries cease  with  Charles  the  Simple,  who 
die.l  inyjl.  Itut  Italuw  has  published 
only  two  under  the  name  of  that  prince; 
the  first,  a  de<d;irilion  of  his  iiui-en's 
jointure  ;  the  second,  an  arbitration  of 
disputes  ill  the  chiinh  of  Tonirn-s;  nei- 
ther, Buivly,  deserving  the  appellation  of 
a  law. 


216  ASSEMBLIES   OF  BARONS.      Chap.  II.  Part  II. 

posed  only  of  barons,  or  tenants  in  chief,  prelates,  and  house- 
hold officers.  These  now  probably  deliberated  in  private, 
as  we  hear  no  more  of  the  consenting  multitude.  Political 
functions  were  not  in  that  age  so  clearly  separated  as  we  are 
Royal  taught  to  fancy  they   should  be ;  this  council  ad- 

the  third  vised  the  king  in  matters  of  government,  confirmed 
race.  and  consented  to  his  grants,  and  judged  in  all  civil 

and  criminal  cases  where  any  peers  of  their  court  were  con- 
cerned.-^ The  great  vassals  of  the  crown  acted  for  them- 
selves in  their  own  territories,  with  the  assistance  of  councils 
similar  to  that  of  the  king.  Such,  indeed,  was  the  symmetry 
of  feudal  customs,  that  the  manorial  court  of  every  vavassor 
represented  in  miniature  that  of  his  sovereign.^ 

But,  notwithstanding  the  want  of  any  permanent  legislation 
during  so  long  a  period,  instances  occur  in  which  the  kings  of 
France  appear  to  have  acted  with  the  concurrence  of  an  as- 
sembly more  numerous  and  more  particularly  summoned  than 
Occasional  ^^^  royal  council.  At  such  a  congress  held  in  1146 
assemblies  the  crusade  of  Louis  VII.  Avas  undertaken.^  We 
find  also  an  ordinance  of  the  same  prince  in  some 
collections,  reciting  that  he  had  convoked  a  general  assembly 
at  Soissons,  where  many  prelates  and  barons  then  present  had 
consented  and  requested  that  private  wars  might  cease  for  the 
terra  of  ten  years.*  The  famous  Saladine  tithe  was  imposed 
upon  lay  as  well  as  ecclesiastical  revenues  by  a  similar  con- 
vention in  1188.^     And  when  Innocent  IV.,  during  his  con- 

IRegallpotentiiinnulloabutivolentes,  *  Ego  Ludovicus  Dei  gratia  Francorum 

says  Hugh  Capet,  omiaia  negotia  rcipub-  rex,  ad  reprimeudum  fervorem  mallguan- 

licae  in  consultationeetsententiafidelium  tivim,  et  compescendum  violentas  prsedo- 

nostrorum  disponimus.  Ilecueil  des  Uist.  rum  manus,  postulationibus  cleri  et  as- 

t.  X.  p.392.  The  subscriptions  of  these  roy-  sensu  baronise,  totl  regno  paceni  consti- 

al  councillors  were  necessary  for  the  con-  tuimus.     Ei  causa,  anno  Incarnati  Verbi 

firmation,  or,  at  least,  the  authentication  1155,  iv.   Idus   Jun.     Suessionense   con- 

of  charters,  as  was  also  the  case  in  Eng-  cilium  celebre  adunavimus,  et  effuerunt 

land,  Spain,  and  Italy.    This  practice  con-  archiepiscopi    Remensis,    Sononensis    et 

tinned  in  England  till  the  reign  of  John,  eoruui  suffraganei ;  item  barones,  comes 

The  Curia  regis  seems  to  have  differed  Flandrensis,  Trecensis,  et  Nivernensis  et 
only  in  name  from  the  Concilium  regium.  quamplures  alii,  et  dux  Burguudiie.  Ex 
It  is  also  called  Curia  parium,  from  the  quorum  beneplacito  ordinavimus  a  ve- 
equality  of  the  barons  who  composed  it,  niente  PaschS  ad  decern  annos,  ut  omnes 
standing  in  the  same  feudal  degree  of  re-  ecclesi;e  regni  et  omnes  agrlcola;,  etc. 
lation  to  the  sovereign.  But  we  are  not  pacem  habeant  et  securitatem.  —  In  pa- 
yet  arrived  at  the  subject  of  jurisdiction,  cem  istaui  juraverunt  dux  Burgundiae, 

which  it  is  very  difficult  to  keep  distinct     comes  Flandriaj, et  reliqui  barones 

from  what  is  immediately  before  us.  qui  aderant. 

2  Recueil  des  Ilist.  t.  xi.  p.  300,  and  This  ordinance  is  published  in  Du 
preface,  p.  179.  A''aissette,  Hist,  de  Lau-  Chesne,  Script.  Rerum  Gallicarum,  t.  iv., 
guedoc,  t.  ii.  p.  508.  and  in  Recueil  des  llistor.  t.  xiv.  p.  387; 

3  Velly,  t.  iii.  p.  119.     This,  he  observes,  but  not  in  the  general  collection, 
is  the  first  instance  in  which  the  word  par-  5  Velly,  t.  iii.  p.  315. 
liament  is  used  for  a  deliberative  assembly. 


Feudal  System.  PLENARY  COURTS.  217 

test  with  the  finperor  Frfdcric,  n'([Uestcd  an  asylum  in  Franec, 
St.  Luiiis,  tliuugli  iiuicli  iiK'liiicd  to  t'avDi-  liiiii,  vciitmvd  only 
to  give  a  conditional  permission,  pi-ovidcd  it  were  agreeable 
to  his  barons,  whom,  he  said,  a  king  ot"  Franee  was  btxiiul  to 
eonsnlt  in  sm-h  eircumstanees.  Aeeordingly  he  assembled 
the  Freneh  liarons,  who  nnanimonsly  refused  their  consent.^ 

It  was  the  ancient  custom  of  the  kings  of  France  as  well  as 
of  Englaml,  and  indeed  of  all  tiiose  vassals  who  cours 
jiftected  a  kind  of  sovereignty,  to  ludd  general  meet-  l*'«"'eres- 
ings  of  their  barons,  called  Cours  Plenieres,  or  Parliaments, 
at  the  great  festivals  of  the  vear.  These  assemblies  were 
principally  intended  to  make  a  display  of  magniticence,  and  to 
keep  the  feudal  tenants  in  good  humor  ;  nor  is  it  easy  to  dis- 
cover that  they  passed  in  anything  but  pageantry.'-  Some 
respectable  anticpiaries  have  liowever  been  of  opinion  that 
atl'airs  of  stiite  were  occasionally  discussed  in  them  ;  and  this 
is  certainly  by  no  means  inconsistent  with  probability,  though 
not  suHii'iently  estal)lished  by  evidence.® 

Execpting  a  few  instances,  most  of  which  have  been  men- 
tioned, it  does  not  appear  that  the  kings  of  the  house  of  Capet 
aete<l  according  to  the  advice  and  deliberation  of  any  national 
assembly,  such  as  assisted  the  Normau  sovei'eigns  of  England  : 
nor  was  any  consent  required  for  the  validity  of  their  edicts, 
except  that  of  the  ordinary  council,  chiefly  formed  of  their 
liousehold  officers  and  less  powerful  vassals.  This  is  at  first 
sight  very  remarkable.  For  there  ean  be  no  doubt  that  the 
government  of  Henry  1.  or  Henry  II.  was  incomparably 
stronger  tlian  that  of  Louis  VI.  or  Louis  VII.  But  tliis 
apparent  absoluteness  of  the  latter  was  the  result  of  their  real 
wi-akness  and  the  disorganization  of  the  monarchy.  The  peers 
of  France  were  infreipient  in  their  attendance  ujion  the  king's 
council,  because  they  denied  its  coercive  authoritv.  lyimititions 
It  was  a  fundamental  principle  that  every  feudal  ,'|,',J,'.'i! "u 
t4'nant  was  so  liir  sovereign  within  the  limits  of  his  legislation, 
lii-f,  that  he  eonhl  not  be  bound  i)v  any  law  without  his  cou- 
.-eiit.  The  king,  says  St.  Louis  in  his  Establishments,  camn)t 
make  proclamation,  that  is,  declare  any  new  law,  in  the  terri- 
tory of  a  ban»n.  without  his  consent,  nor  can  the  baron  do  so 
in  that  of  a  vavassor.*     Thus,  if  legislative  power  be  essential 

*  Vi-lly,  t.  Iv.  p.  SW.  terre  iiu  biiron  wimh  son  nssi-ntmont.  iie  II 

*  till  CnnK)-,  ItiitKcrt.  J>,  our  .loinville.         Imth  (liaron]  nu  piict  iiictlrc  liiiii   rii  la 

*  M'lii.  ill-  I'Arml.  il<-«  IiiiTipt.   t.  xli.     terre  111!  viiviixor.    OrJoiiiiuuci-n  dt'c  UoU, 

lu^iiiii  'U-y  ni«t.  t.  xi.  |.nfii<f,  p.  iiVi.       1. 1.  II.  rji;. 

*  Nc  II  Tuit  uv  jiUL't  uiettre  buu  eti  lu 


218  LEGISLATIVE  SUBSTITUTES.     Chap.  II.  Part  IL 

to  sovereignty,  we  cannot  in  strictness  assert  the  king  of 
France  to  have  been  sovereign  beyond  the  extent  of  his 
domanial  territory.  Notliing  can  more  strikingly  illustrate 
the  dissimilitude  of  the  French  and  English  constitutions  of 
government  than  the  sentence  above  cited  from  the  code  of 
St.  Louis. 

Upon  occasions  when  the  necessity  of  common  deliberation, 
Substitutes  or  of  giving  to  new  provisions  more  extensive  scope 
lativef^"  than  the  limits  of  a  single  fief,  was  too  glaring  to  be 
authority.  overlooked,  congresses  of  neighboring  lords  met  in 
order  to  agree  upon  resolutions  which  each  of  them  undertook 
to  execute  within  his  own  domains.  The  king  was  sometimes 
a  contracting  party,  but  without  any  coercive  authority  over 
the  rest.  Thus  we  have  what  is  called  an  ordinance,  but,  in 
reality,  an  agi'eement,  between  the  king  (Philip  Augustus), 
the  countess  of  Troyes  or  Champagne,  and  the  lord  of  Dam- 
pierre,^  relating  to  the  Jews  in  their  domains ;  which  agree- 
ment or  ordinance,  it  is  said,  should  endure  "  until  ourselves, 
and  the  countess  of  Troyes,  and  Guy  de  Dampierre,  who  make 
this  contract,  shall  dissolve  it  with  the  consent  of  such  of  our 
barons  as  we  shall  summon  for  that  purpose."  ^ 

Ecclesiastical  councils  were  another  substitute  for  a  regular 
legislature  ;  and  this  defect  in  the  political  constitution  ren- 
dered their  encroachments  less  obnoxious,  and  almost  unavoid- 
able. That  of  Troyes  in  878,  composed  perhaps  in  part  of 
laymen,  imposed  a  fine  upon  the  invaders  of  church  property.^ 
And  the  council  of  Toulouse,  in  1229,  prohibited  the  erection 
of  any  new  fortresses,  or  the  entering  into  any  leagues,  except 
against  the  enemies  of  religion ;  and  ordained  that  judges 
should  administer  justice  gratuitously,  and  publish  the  decrees 
of  the  council  four  times  in  the  year.* 

First  The  first  unequivocal  attempt,  for  it  was  nothing 

of'^senerai  ^^ovc,  at  general  legislation,  was  under  Louis  VIII. 
legislation,      in  1223,  ill  ail  ordinance  which,  like  several  of 

1  In  former  editions  I  have  called  the  '-  Quosque  nos,  et  comitissa  Trecensis, 

lord  of   Dampierre  count   of  Flanders,  et  Guido  de  Domni  petra,  qui  hoc  faci- 

But  it  has  been  suggested  to  me   that  mus,  per  nos,  et  illos  de  baronibus  nos- 

the  lord  of  Dampierre  was  never  count  tris,  quos  ad  hoc  vocare  volumus,  illud 

of  Flanders  ;  his  second  brother  married  diffaclamus.     Ordonnances  des  liois,  t.  i. 

the  younger  sister  of  the  heiress  of  that  p.  29.    Tliis  ordinance  bears  no  date,  hut 

fief,  who,   after  his   deatli,    inlierited   it  it  was  probably  between  1218  and  1223, 

from  the  elder.    The  ordinance  related  to  the  year  of  Philip's  death, 

the  domains  of  Dampierre,  in  the  Niver-  '^  Vaissette,  Hist,  de  Languedoc,   t.  ii. 

nois.    This,  however,  makes  the  instance  p.  6. 

stronger  against  the  legislative  authority  i  Velly,  t.  iv.  p.  132. 
of  the  crown  than  as  1  had  stated  it. 


Fecdal  System.  INCREASE  OF  POWER  OF  THE  CROWN".   219 

that  age,  rclatos  to  the  ooinhtioii  and  ii^iirioii>  di'aliiius  of  the 
Jews.  It  is  deehired  in  the  pfeauiblc  to  have  \>vvu  vwM-wd 
per  asseiisura  arehieijiscoporum,  episeoporuin,  eoinitiini.  h;i- 
romim,  et  inilituia  legni  Franeiie,  tiiii  JikUvos  hal)eiit.  it  qui 
Juda'os  non  haln-nt.  Tliis  recital  is  jji-obahly  untrue,  and  in- 
tended to  eloak  the  bold  innovation  contained  in  the  last  clause 
of  the  following  provision  :  Sciendum,  quod  nos  et  barones 
nostri  statuimus  t-t  ordinavimus  de  statu  Judivorum  quod  nul- 
lus  nostrum  altcrius  Juda-os  recii)ere  potest  vcl  retincre;  et 
hoc  inteUigendum  est  tarn  de  his  qui  stabilimentumjuravennt, 
quam  de  illis  qui  noii  juniverint}  Tiiis  was  renewed  with 
some  alteration  in  12o0,  de  communi  consilio  baronum  nos- 
trorum.- 

But  whatever  obedience  the  vassals  of  the  crown  might  pay 
to  this  ordinance,  their  original  exemption  from  k'gislative 
control  remained,  as  we  have  seen,  unimpaired  at  the  date  of 
the  Establishments  of  St.  Louis,  about  121)9  ;  and  tlieir  ill- 
judged  contidence  in  tliis  feudal  privilege  still  led  them  to 
absent  themselves  from  the  royal  council.  It  seems  impossible 
to  doubt  that  the  barons  of  France  might  have  asserted  the 
same  right  which  those  of  England  had  obtained,  that  of  being 
duly  summoned  by  special  writ,  and  thus  liave  rendered  their 
consent  necessary  to  every  measure  of  legislation.  But  the 
fortunes  of  France  were  ditierent.  The  Establishments  of 
St.  Louis  are  declared  to  be  made  "par  grand  conseil  de 
Siiges  hommes  et  de  bons  clers,"  but  no  mention  is  made  of 
any  consent  given  by  the  barons ;  nor  does  it  often,  if  ever, 
occur  in  subsequent  ordinances  of  the  French  kings. 

The  nol>ilily  did  not  long  continue  safe  in  their  immunity 
from  the  king's  legishitive  power.     In  the  ensuing 
reign  of  Philip  the  Bold,  Beaumanoir  lays  it  down,  pofveAr" 
tJKJU'di  in  very  moderate  and  ditul)tfid  terms,  that  tUe crown 

.■  1        1  •■'  1  1-  •    11      I-       increases. 

"  wlien  tlie  kmg  makes  any  ordmance  specially  tor 
his  own  domains,  the  barons  do  not  cease  to  act  in  their 
territories  acc<jrding  to  th(,'  ancient  usage;  but  when  tlie  ordi- 
nance is  general,  it  ought  to  rim  through  the  whole  kingdom, 
and  we  ought  to  believe  that  it  is  made  with  good  advice, 
and  for  tlie  common  benefit."  *  In  another  place  he  says, 
with  more  posiliveness,  that  "the  king  is  sovereign  above  all, 
and  has  of  right  the  general  custody  of  the   realm,  iiir  which 

>  Ortlonniiucci)  Jen  lloU.  t.  1.  p.  47.  "  Coatumes  Jc  Uvauvdi^i-,  r.  4S. 

s  Id.  p.  Ui. 


220   INCEEASE  OF  POWER  OF  THE  CROWN.    Chap.  II.  Part  11. 

cause  he  may  make  what  ordinances  he  pleases  for  the  com- 
mon good,  and  what  he  ordains  ought  to  be  observed  ;  nor  is 
there  any  one  so  great  but  may  be  drawn  into  the  king's  court 
for  defauU  of  right  or  for  false  judgment,  or  in  matters  that 
atfect  the  sovereign."  ^  These  latter  words  give  us  a  clue  to 
Causes  of  the  solutiou  of  the  problem  by  what  means  an 
this.  absolute    monarchy   was    established    m    France. 

For  though  the  barons  would  have  been  little  influenced  by 
the  authority  of  a  lawyer  like  Beauraanoir,  they  wei'e  much 
less  able  to  resist  the  coercive  logic  of  a  judicial  tribunal.  It 
was  in  vain  for  them  to  deny  the  obligation  of  royal  ordi- 
nances within  their  own  domains,  Avlien  they  were  com- 
pelled to  acknowledge  the  jurisdiction  of  the  parliament  of 
Paris,  which  took  a  very  different  view  of  their  privileges. 
This  progress  of  the  royal  jurisdiction  will  fall  under  the  next 
topic  of  inquiry,  and  is  only  now  hinted  at,  as  the  probable 
means  of  confirming  the  absolute  legislative  power  of  the 
French  crown. 

The  ultimate  source,  however,  of  this  increased  authority 
will  be  found  in  the  commanding  attitude  assumed  by  the 
kings  of  France  from  the  reign  of  Philip  Augustus,  and  par- 
ticularly in  the  annexation  of  the  two  great  fiefs  of  Nor- 
mandy and  Toulouse.  Tiiough  the  chatelains  and  vavassors 
who  had  depended  upon  those  fiefs  before  their  reunion  were, 
agreeably  to  the  text  of  St.  Louis's  ordinance,  fully  sovereign, 
in  respect  of  legislation,  within  their  territories,  yet  they  were 
little  competent,  and  perhaps  little  disposed,  to  offer  any  op- 
position to  the  royal  edicts ;  and  the  same  relative  superiority 
of  force,  which  had  given  the  first  kings  of  the  house  of  Capet 
a  tolerably  eflFeetive  control  over  the  vassals  dependent  on 
Paris  and  Orleans,  while  they  hardly  pretended  to  any  over 
Normandy  and  Toulouse,  was  now  extended  to  the  greater 
part  of  the  kingdom.  St.  Louis,  in  his  scrupulous  moder- 
ation, forbore  to  avail  himself  of  all  the  advantages  presented 
by  the  circumstances  of  his  reign  ;  and  his  Establishments 
bear  testimony  to  a  state  of  political  society  which,  even  at 
the  moment  of  their  promulgation,  was  passing  away.  The 
next  thirty  years  after  his  death,  with  no  marked  crisis,  and 

1  C.  34.     Beaumanoir  uses  in  one  place  service,   so  that  he  may  enforce    them 

still  stronger  language  about  the  royal  again;   "for  what  it  pleases  Iiim  to  do 

authority.     The  king,  he  says,  may  an-  ought  to  be  Iield  as  law  "  (c.  35).     Tliis  I 

nul  the  releases  of  debts  made  by  any  owe  to  the  new  edition  of  the  "  CoPitumes 

one  who  accompanies   him  in  miUtary  de  Beaumanoir,"  by  M.  Beugnot,  1842. 


Feudal  System. 


STATES-GENERAL. 


221 


Avitli  little  (li>tiirl»:inc(',  silently  deinolished  the  teiiilal  system, 
such  as  had  been  established  in  Fraiiee  during  the  dark  eon- 
fusion  of  the  tenth  century.  Philii)  the  Fair,  by  help  of  his 
lawyers  ami  his  financiers,  found  hini>elf,  at  the  beginniuLr  of 
the  ti)urteenth  i-entiu'y,  tiie  real  master  of  his  subjeets.^ 

There  was,  however,  one  essential  privilege  which  he 
could  not  hope  to  overturn  by  force,  the  imuniiiity  ((mvooatiou 
from  taxation  enjoyed  by  his  barons.  This,  it  will  of  t'le  stjiua- 
be  remembered,  embraced  the  whole  extent  ot  Piniip  the 
their  tiets,  and  their  tenantry  of  every  descrii)tion  ;  *'"''■ 
the  king  having  no  more  right  to  impose  a  tallage  upon  the 
demesne  towns  of  his  vassals  than  upon  themselves.  Thus 
liis  resources,  in  point  of  ta.xalion,  were  limited  to  his  own 
domain^  ;  inchnliiig  certainlv.  under  Philip  the  Fair,  many  of 
the  noljlest  cities  in  France,  but  by  no  means  suilicient 
to  meet  his  increasing  necessities.  We  have  seen  already 
the  expedients  employed  by  this  rapacious  monarch  —  a 
shameless  depreciation  of  the  coin,  and,  what  was  much  more 
ju-titiai)le.  the  levying  taxes  within  the  territories  of  his  vas- 
sals l)y  their  consent.  Of  these  measures,  the  first  was  odious, 
the  second  slow  and  imperfect.  Confiiling  in  his  sovereign 
authority  —  though  recently,  yet  almost  completely,  estab- 
lished—  and  little  apprehensive  of  the  feudal  principlef^,  al- 
ready grown  oljsoletc  and  discoimtenanced.  he  was  bold  enough 
to  make  an  exiraordinarv  iimovation  in  the  French  constitution. 
This  was  the  convocation  of  the  States-General,  a  representa- 
tive Ijody,  composed  of  the  three  orders  of  the  nation."     They 


1  The  roicn  of  Philip  the  Fair  lias  been 
very  well  lli^culis<•"l  by  Miibly,  Siymoinli, 
and  <iui7,ot.  ••  lie  chuni;e4,'"  KavK  the 
la*t,  "monarchy  into  <lcKpotism  ;  but  he 
WB«  not  one  of  thow  ilcxpotx  who  employ 
theirab!tolut4-  power  for  the  public  (jooil."' 
'"On  ne  rencontre  ■latin  tout  le  courn  <Ie 
»on  regne  aucuiie  iilee  ({enenile.  et  qui 
p'y  nipp'irte  au  bieii  ^le  se!<  sujets;  c'ent 
un  ile-p<ite  il-^ointe.  ilerouc  d  lui-iiieme 
•qui  Piriie  pour  lui  hcuI.''  (Leion  45.) 
The  rnyal  authority  ifaitie.l  so  much 
H>ceii>leiicy  in  liif  rei;;n,  that,  while  we 
have  only  .'yi  onloiiiiain-ex  of  St.  I/OuIk  ill 
forty-two  yi-ari",  we  have  !J*4  of  Philip 
IV.  in  atMjut  thirty. 

3  It  it  nIniiMt  unnDimounly  a((roed 
anion/  Kn-ncli  wril'-rn  that  Philip  the 
Fair  fir-t  iiitro'luccil  h  repreiu-ntatiou  of 
the  t/r.viin  into  hi"  national  imi-nibly  of 
8tHCe«-4)eneml.  NeTertlielemi,  the  Cliron- 
iclcx  of  Bt.  l><-niK.  and  other  hiotoriaiiH 
of  rather  a  Uilc  dat«,  awiert  that  the  dep- 


uties of  towns  were  present  at  n  parlia- 
ment in  1241,  to  adTLse  the  king  what 
should  be  done  in  consequence  of  the 
count  of  .\ni;oulenie"s  refu.>«il  of  homage. 
Koulainvillier.4,  Hi.>(t.  Ue  I'Ancieii  tinu- 
Tenieinent  de  France,  t.  ii.  p.  20;  Vil- 
lanft,  t.  ix.  p.  12.'>.  The  latter  prctcnd.s 
even  that  they  may  be  traced  a  century 
farther  back  ;  ou  voit  dej.l  les  gens  de 
bonnes  villcs  as.sist<T  au.\  ctiit.-)  de  1145. 
Ibid.  Hut  he  quotes  no  authority  for 
this  :  ami  hi-i  vairue  language  iIdcs  not 
justify  us  in  supposing  that  any  repre- 
Kentition  of  the  three  estates,  priqiirly 
Bo  undcrstoo.l,  did,  or  indeed  couM.  take 
place  in  1145,  while  the  power  of  (be 
aristocracy  was  uiibrokiMi,  and  very  lew 
towns  hail  been  iiii'iirpnrated.  If  it  be 
true  that  the  deputies  iif  snnie  nnal 
towns  were  sunnuonrd  to  the  parliament 
of  1241.  the  conclusion  must  not  be  in- 
ferri'd  that  thev  possessed  any  consent- 
ing voile,  iiipr  periiaps  timt   they  formed, 


222 


STATES-GENERAL. 


Chap.  II.  Paiit  II. 


were  first  convened  in  1302,  in  order  to  give  more  weight  to 
the  king's  cause  in  his  great  quarrel  with  Bonifl^ee  VIII. ;  but 
their  earliest  grant  of  a  subsidy  is  in  1314.  Thus  the  nobihty 
surrendered  to  the  crown  their  last  privilege  of  territorial  in- 
dependence ;  and,  having  first  submitted  to  its  appellant  juris- 
diction over  their  tribunals,  next  to  its  legislative  supremacy, 
now  suffered  their  own  dependents  to  become,  as  it  were, 
immediate,  and  a  third  estate  to  rise  up  almost  coordinate 
with  themselves,  endowed  with  new  franchises,  and  bearing  a 
new  relation  to  the  monarchy. 

It  is  impossible  not  to  perceive  the  motives  of  Philip  in 
embodying  the  deputies  of  towns  as  a  separate  estate  in  the 
national  representation.  He  might,  no  question,  have  con- 
voked a  parliament  of  his  barons,  and  obtained  a  pecuniary 
contribution,  which  they  would  have  levied  upon  their  bur- 
gesses and  other  tenants.  But,  besides  the  ulterior  policy  of 
diminishing  the  control  of  the  barons  over  their  dependents. 


strictly  speaking,  an  integrant  portion  of 
the  assembly.  There  is  reason  to  believe 
that  deputies  from  the  royal  burghs  of 
Scotland  occasionally  appeared  at  the  bar 
of  parliament  long  before  they  had  any 
deUberative  voice. —  Pinkerton's  Hist,  of 
Scotland,  vol.  i.  p.  371. 

An'  ordinance  of  St  Louis,  quoted  in 
a  very  respectable  book,  Vaissette's  His- 
tory of  Languedoc,  t.  iii.  p.  480,  but 
not  published  in  the  Recueil  des  Ordon- 
nances,  not  only  shows  the  existence,  in 
one  instance,  of  a  provincial  legislative 
assembly,  but  is  the  earliest  proof  per- 
haps of  the  tiers  etat  appearing  as  a  con- 
stituent part  of  it.  This  relates  to  the 
seneschaussee,  or  county,  of  Beaucaire  in 
Languedoc,  and  bears  date  in  1254.  It 
provides  that,  if  the  seneschal  shall  think 
fit  to  prohibit  the  export  of  merchandise, 
he  shall  summon  some  of  the  prelates, 
barons,  knights,  and  inhabitants  of  the 
chief  towns,  by  whose  advice  he  shall 
issue  such  prohibition,  and  not  recall  it, 
when  made,  without  like  advice.  But 
though  it  is  interesting  to  see  the  pro- 
gressive importance  of  the  citizens  of 
towns,  yet  this  temporary  and  insulated 
ordinance  is  not  of  itself  sufScient  to 
establish  a  constitutional  right.  Neither 
do  we  find  therein  any  evidence  of  rep- 
resentation ;  it  rather  appears  that  the 
persons  assisting  in  this  assembly  were 
notables,  selected  by  the  seneschal. 

I  am  not  aware  of  any  instance  of 
regular  provincial  estates  being  sum- 
moned with  such  full  powers,  although 
it  was  very  common  in  the  fourteenth 
century  to  ask  their  consent  to  grants  of 


money,  when  the  court  was  unwilling  to 
convoke  the  States-General.  Yet  there 
is  a  passage  in  a  book  of  considerable 
credit,  the  Grand  Customary,  or  Somme 
Rurale  of  Bouteiller,  which  seems  to 
render  general  the  particular  case  of  the 
seneschaussee  of  Beaucaire.  Bouteiller 
wrote  about  the  end  of  the  fourteenth 
century.  The  great  courts  summoned 
from  time  to  time  by  the  bailli.s  and 
seneschals  were  called  assises.  Their 
usual  function  was  to  administer  justice, 
especially  by  way  of  appeal,  and  perhaps 
to  redress  abuses  of  inferior  officers.  But 
he  seems  to  give  them  a  more  extended 
authority.  En  assise,  he  says,  appelles, 
lee  sages  et  seigneurs  du  pais,  peuvent 
estre  mises  sus  nouvelles  coustitvitions, 
et  ordonnances  sur  le  pais  et  dcstruites 
autre  que  seront  grevables,  et  en  autre 
temps  non,  et  doiveut  etre  publiees  safin 
que  nul  ne  les  pueust  ignorer,  et  lors  ne 
les  pent  ne  doit  jamais  nul  redarguer. — 
Mem.  del'Acad.  des  Inscriptions,  t.  xxx. 
p.  606. 

The  taille  was  assessed  by  respectable 
persons  chosen  by  the  advice  of  the  parish 
priests  and  others,  which  gave  the  peojjle 
a  sort  of  share  in  the  repartition,  to  use 
a  French  term,  of  public  burdens;  a 
matter  of  no  small  importance  where  a 
tax  is  levied  on  visible  property.  Ordon- 
nances des  Kois,  p.  291 ;  Beaiunanoir, 
p.  269.  Thi.s,  however,  continued,  I  be- 
lieve, to  be  the  practice  in  later  times ; 
I  know  it  is  so  in  the  pre.'ient  system  of 
France,  and  is  perfectly  distinguishable 
from  a  popular  consent  to  taxation. 


Feud.ax  System.  STATES-GENERAL.  223 

he  had  good  reason  to  expect  more  hheial  ai<l  tVoin  tho  im- 
mediate ivpre^entatives  of  the  people  than  through  the  eon- 
cession  of  rt  dissatisfied  aristocracy.  "  lie  mu.-t  be  bhnd, 
indeed,"  says  Pasipiier,  "  who  docs  not  see  that  the  rotnricr 
was  expressly  sinnmoncd  to  this  assembly,  contrary  to  the 
ancient  institutions  of  France,  for  no  other  reason  than  tliat, 
inasmuch  as  the  hurdcn  was  intended  to  f'all  principally  upon 
him,  he  might  engage  himself  so  tiir  by  promise,  that  he  could 
not  afterwards  murmur  or  become  refractory."  *  Nor  would 
I  deny  the  influence  of  more  generous  princifjles  ;  the  ex- 
ample of  neighl)oring  countries,  the  respect  due  to  the  pro- 
gressive civilization  and  oj>ulence  of  the  towns,  and  the  appH- 
cation  of  that  ancient  maxim  of  the  northern  monairhies,  that 
whoever  was  elevated  to  the  perteet  dignity  of  a  freeman  ac- 
quire<l  a  claim  to  participate  in  the  imposition  of  public 
tril)utes. 

It  is  very  diHicult  to  a-^ccrtain  the  constitutional  rights  of  the 
States-General,  claimed  or  admitted,  din-ing  tbrly  Kijriitsof 
years  after  their  first  convocation.  If,  indeed,  we  ueiieraias 
could  implicitly  confitle  in  an  historian  of  the  six-  '» tiixation. 
teenth  century,  who  asserts  that  Louis  Ilutin  bound  himself 
and  his  successors  not  to  levy  any  tax  without  the  consent  of 
the  three  estates,  the  problem  would  find  its  solution.'^  This 
ample  charter  does  not  a[)pear  in  the  French  archives ;  and, 
thougli  by  no  means  to  be  rejected  on  that  account,  when  we 
consider  the  strong  motives  for  its  destruction,  cannot  fairly 
be  adfluced  as  an  authentic  fact.  Nor  can  we  altogether  infer, 
perhaps,  from  tlw;  collection  of  ordinances,  that  the  crown  had 
ever  intentiunaily  divested  itself  of  the  riglit  to  impose  tallages 
on  its  dcjmanial  tenants.  All  others,  however,  were  certainly 
exempted  from  that  prerogative ;  and  there  seems  to  have 
been  a  general  sentiment  that  no  tax  whatever  could  be  levied 
without  free  consent  of  the  estates.*  Louis  Ilutin,  in  a  char- 
ter granted  to  the  noliles  and  burgesses  of  Picardy,  promises 
to  abolisli  the  unjust  taxes  (maltotes)  imposed  by  his  father;* 
and  in  another  instrument,  called  the  charter  of  Normandy, 

•  IliTlicrrlu'ii  lie  L'l  Kninoi'.  1.  ii.  c.  7.  to  Impose  tnxos.     INfontlosicr  (Moniirrhie 

-  ll<iuliiiiivilli('r>  (Mi-t.  lU-  I'Aiic.  (}ou-  Kruiiviiiw,  t.  i.    p.   2<)2)   is   of  tin-   s.iiiio 

T<Tii<Min-iit.  t.  il.  p.  \'2H)  ri-feni  for  thiH  to  opinion.     In  fact,  tlicrr  is  reason  ("  ln'- 

Xlcholjui  GillpH,  a  cliroiiick-r  of  no  giyiit  licvr  tliat  the  kint's  in   piicnil  <liil   not 

n-pul)'.  claim  that  prcnifpilivo  aljsolutclv.  wliat- 

«  Mftl)ly,    Ohwrvat.      siir     I'llist.    do  ewr  pretexts  tlie.v  nii^'lit  sot  up  for  wca- 

Vmucf.  I.  T.  r,   1.  i*  iKwltivc  HKainxt  tliu  clonal  stretelii'S  of  power, 

rii^lit  of  I'hilip  tbe  Fair  buU  Uis  auccfuom  *  Ordouuunc-L-ii  Uch  KoiH,  t.  i.  p.  OiO. 


224  STATES-GENER.\L.  Chap.  II.  Part  II. 

declares  that  lie  renounces  for  himself  and  his  successors  all 
undue  tallages  and  exactions,  except  in  case  of  evident  utility.^ 
This  exception  is  doubtless  of  perilous  ambiguity  ;  yet,  as  the 
charter  was  literally  wrested  from  the  king  by  an  insurrec- 
tionary league,  it  might  be  expected  that  the  same  spirit  would 
rebel  against  his  royal  interpretation  of  state-necessity.  His 
successor,  Philip  the  Long,  tried  the  experiment  of  a  gabelle, 
or  excise  upon  salt.  But  it  produced  so  much  discontent  that 
he  was  compelled  to  assemble  the  States-General,  and  to  pub- 
lish an  ordinance,  declaring  that  the  impost  was  not  designed 
to  be  })erpetual,  and  that,  if  a  sufficient  supply  for  the  existing 
war  coidd  be  found  elsewhere,  it  should  instantly  determine.^ 
Whether  this  was  done  I  do  not  discover  ;  nor  do  I  conceive 
that  any  of  the  sons  of  Philip  the  Fair,  inheriting  much  of  his 
rapacity  and  ambition,  abstained  from  extorting  money  with- 
out consent.  Philip  of  Valois  renewed  and  augmented  the 
duties  on  salt  by  his  own  prerogative,  nor  had  the  abuse  of 
debasing  the  current  coin  been  ever  carried  to  such  a  height 
as  during  his  reign  and  the  first  years  of  his  successor.  These 
exactions,  aggravated  by  the  smart  of  a  hostile  invasion,  pro- 
duced a  very  remarkable  concussion  in  the  government  of 
France. 

I  have  been  obliged  to  advert,  in  another  place,  to  the 
states-  memorable  resistance  made  by  the  States-General 
0/1355  o^  1355  and  1356  to  the  royal  authority,  on  account 
and  1356.  of  its  inseparable  connection  with  the  civil  history 
of  France.^  In  the  present  chapter  the  assumption  of  politi- 
cal influence  by  those  assemblies  deserves  particular  notice. 
Not  that  they  pretended  to  restore  the  ancient  constitution  of 
the  northern  nations,  still  flourishing  in  Spain  and  England, 
the  participation  of  legislative  power  with  the  crown.  Five 
hundred  years  of  anarchy  and  ignorance  had  swept  away  all 
remembrance  of  those  general  diets  in  which  the  capitularies 
of  the  Carlovingian  dynasty  had  been  established  by  common 
consent.  Charlemagne  himself  was  hardly  known  to  the 
French  of  the  fourteenth  century,  except  as  the  hero  of  some 
silly  romance  or  ballad.  The  States-General  remonstrated, 
indeed,  against  abuses,  and  especially  the  most  flagrant  of  all, 
the  adulteration  of  money  ;  but  the  ordinance  granting  redress 
emanated  altogether  from   the  king,  and  without  the  least 

1  Idem,  t.  i.  p.  589.  3  Chap.  i.  p.  66. 

8  Ordonnances  des  Rois,  t.  i.  p.  679. 


Feudal  System.  STATES-GENER.U-.  225 

retiTciK-e  to  tluMr  con-ent.  which  somotiniP.-!  appears  to  be 
stiuliuusly  uiiiittfil.^  But  the  privilege  upon  whieli  the  Stat4.^g 
under  John  solely  relied  for  securing  the  redi*ess  of  grievances 
was  that  of  granting  money,  and  of  regulating  its  eoUeetion. 
The  latter,  indeed,  though  for  convenience  it  may  be  devolved 
upon  the  executive  government,  appears  to  be  incident  to 
every  asseiubly  in  which  tiie  right  of  taxation  resides.  That, 
accordingly,  wliicli  met  in  looa  nominated  a  committee  chosen 
out  of  the  three  orders,  which  was  to  sit  after  their  se[)aration, 
and  which  the  king  bound  himself  to  consult,  not  only  as  to 
the  internal  arrangements  of  his  administration,  but  upon 
every  proposition  of  peace  or  armistice  with  England.  Dep- 
uties were  despatched  into  each  district  to  superintend  the 
collection  and  receive  the  pi'oduce  of  the  subsidy  granted  by 
the  Stiites."  These  assum])tions  of  power  would  not  long, 
we  may  be  certain,  have  left  the  sole  autiiority  of  legislation 
in  the  king,  and  might,  perhaps,  be  censured  as  usurpation,  if 
the  peculiar  emergency  in  which  France  was  then  placecl  did 
not  furnish  their  ilefence.  But,  if  it  be  true  that  the  kingdom 
was  reduced  to  the  utmost  danger  and  exhaustion,  as  much 
liy  malversation  of  its  government  as  by  the  armies  of  F^dward 
111.,  who  shall  deny  to  its  reiiresentatives  the  right  of  ultimate 
sovereignty,  and  of  suspending  at  least  the  royal  prerogatives, 
by  the  abuse  of  wluch  they  were  falling  into  destruction  ?  ^ 
I  confess  that  it  is  exceedingly  difficult,  or  perhaps  imprac- 
ticable, with  such  information  as  we  possess,  to  decide  upon 
the  motives  and  conduct  of  the  States-General  in  their  several 
meetings  before  and  after  the  battle  of  Poitiers.  Arbitrary 
power  prevailed ;  and  its  oi)ponents  beciune,  of  course,  the 
theme  of  obloquy  with  modern  historians.  Froissart,  however, 
does  not  seem  to  impute  any  fault  to  these  famous  assemblies 

•  The    prore<MiinKS    of    SUites-Oencral  any   limitations   in   respect   of   enacting 

held  unilnr  I'liilip  IV.  and  his  sons  have  laws,  Kave  those  which,  until   tlie  mp;n 

left  no  trace  in  the  French  stiitute-lMKik.  of  Philip  the  Kair,  the  feudal  principles 

Two    ordoniiances    alone,    out   of    sonic  hail  imposed. 

hundn-d    enacted    by    Philip   of  Valois,  2  Ordonnances   dea   Rois.   t.   iii.  p.    21 

Bp|«-ar  to  hiive  been  founded  upon  their  and   preface,  p.  42.     This  ])reface  by  M. 

sujojestiont.  .Secouse,   the   eilitor,   (.'ivos  a   very   clear 

It  is  abMjIutely  certain  that  the  Stated-  view  of  the  neni-ral  and  proviiiciala-sscni- 

Genenil  of  France  had  at  no  |M-rioil,  and  blies  held  in   the  reijjn  of  .lohn.     Bou- 

iu  no  instance,  a   cixirdinate    leKislativo  lainvilliers.  Hist,  de  I'Ancien  (louverne- 

authority  with  the  cn<wn,  or  even  a  con-  uieiit  de  Fr.ince,  t.  ii.,  or  Villaret,  t.  ix., 

neiitinit    voice.      .Mably,    lioulainvillieni,  njay  be  ix-rused  with  ailvanta^tc. 

and   .MoiitlosiiT,  an-  a»  decisive  on   this  »  The  second  continuafor  of  Nanirfs  In 

Kubjwt  lu    the   most   courtly    writers  of  the  Spiciletnum  dwells  on  tlie  heavy  tJixeii, 

that  country.     It  follf.»s  as  a  just  con-  dimiiiutinn  nf  money,  and  |.'riiiral  oppn-.s- 

M-i|uencr.   that   France  never  |>o»seM«'d  a  slveness  of  government  in  rlii-:iL'e:  t.  iii. 

fn*  constitution;  nor  had  the  monarchy  p.  108. 
VOL.   I.                    16 


226 


STATES-GENERAL. 


Chap.  II.  Part  II. 


of  the  States-General ;  and  still  less  a  more  contemporary 
historian,  the  anonymous  continnator  of  Nangis.  Their 
notices,  however,  are  very  slight ;  and  our  chief  knowledge 
of  the  parliamentary  history  of  France,  if  I  may  employ  the 
expression,  must  be  collected  from  the  royal  ordinances  made 
upon  these  occasions,  or  from  unpublished  accounts  of  their 
transactions.  Some  of  these,  which  are  quoted  by  the  later 
historians,  are,  of  course,  inaccessible  to  a  writer  in  this 
country.  But  a  manuscript  in  the  British  Museum,  contain- 
ing the  early  proceedings  of  that  assembly  which  met  in 
October,  1356,  immediately  after  the  battle  of  Poitiers,  by  no 
means  leads  to  an  unfavorable  estimate  of  its  intentions.-^  The 
tone  of  their  representations  to  the  duke  of  Normandy  (Charles 
v.,  not  then  called  Dauphin)  is  full  of  loyal  respect ;  their 
complaints  of  bad  administration,  though  bold  and  pointed,  not 
outrageous  ;  their  offers  of  subsidy  liberal.  The  necessity  of 
restoring  the  coin  is  strongly  represented  as  the  grand  con- 
dition upon  which  they  consented  to  tax  the  people,  who  had 
been  long  defrauded  by  the  base  money  of  Philip  the  Fair 
and  his  successors.^ 


1  Cotton  MSS.  Titus,  t.  xii.  fol.  58-74. 
This  manuscript  is  noticed,  as  an  im- 
portant document,  in  the  preface  to  the 
third  volume  of  Ordonnances,  p.  48.  hy 
M.  Secousse,  who  had  found  it  mentioned 
in  the  Bibliotheque  Ilistorique  of  Le 
Long,  No.  11,242.  No  French  antiquary 
appears,  at  least  before  that  time,  to  have 
seen  it;  but  Boulaiuvilliers  conjectured 
that  it  related  to  the  assembly  of  States 
in  February,  1356  (1.357),  and  M.  Secousse 
supposed  it  rather  to  be  the  original 
journal  of  the  preceding  meeting  in  Oc- 
tober, 1356,  from  which  a  copy,  found 
among  the  manuscripts  of  Dupuy,  and 
frequently  referred  to  by  Secousse  him- 
self in  his  preface,  had  beea  taken.  M. 
Secousse  was  perfectly  right  In  supposing 
the  manuscript  in  question  to  relate  to 
the  proceedings  of  October,  and  not  of 
February ;  but  it  is  not  an  original  instru- 
ment. It  forms  part  of  a  small  volume 
written  on  vellum,  and  containing  several 
other  treatises.  It  seems,  however,  as 
far  as  I  can  judge,  to  be  another  copy  of 
the  account  which  Dupuy  possessed,  and 
which  Secousse  so  often  quotes,  under 
the  name  of  Proces-verbal. 

It  is  singular  that  Sismondi  says  (x. 
479),  with  Secousse  before  his  eyes,  that 
the  proccs-fe.rbdiix  of  the  States-General, 
in  13.56,  are  not  extant. 

-  Et  estoit  et  est  I'entente  de  ceulx  qui 
a  la  ditte  convocation  estoieut,  que  quel- 


conquo  ottroy  on  ayde  qu'lls  feissent,  ils 
eussent  bonne  monnoye  et  estable  selou 
I'advis  des  trois  estats ;  et  que  les  chartres 
et  lettres  faites  pour  ies  reformations  du 
royaume  par  le  roy  Philippe  le  Bel,  et 
toutes  celles  qui  furent  faites  par  le  roy 
notre  seigneur  qui  est  a  present,  fussent 
confirmees,  enteriiiees,  tenues,  et  gardees 
de  point  en  point ;  et  toutes  les  .aides 
quelconques  qui  faites  soient  fussent  re- 
cues  et  distribuees  par  ceulx  qui  soient  a 
ce  commis  par  les  trois  estats,  etautori- 
sees  par  M.  le  Due,  et  sur  certaines  au- 
tres  conditions  et  modifications  justes  et 
raissonables  proulfit.ables,  et  semhie  que 
ceste  aide  eust  ete  moult  grant  et  moult 
prouffitable,  et  trop  plus  que  aides  de 
fait  de  monnoj-e.  Car  elle  se  feroit  de 
volonte  du  peuple  et  consenteraent  com- 
mun  selon  Dieu  et  selon  conscience :  Et 
le  proufRt  que  on  prent  et  veult  on  pren- 
dre sur  le  fait  de  la  monnoye  duquel  on 
veult  faire  le  fait  de  la  guerre,  et  ce  soit 
a  la  destruction,  et  a  este  au  temps 
passe,  du  roy  et  du  royaume  et  des  sub- 
jets  ;  Et  si  se  destruit  le  billon  tant  par 
fontures  et  blanehis  comme  autrement, 
ne  le  fait  ne  peust  durer  longuement 
qu'il  ne  vienne  a  destrviction  si  on  con- 
tinue longuement;  Et  si  est  tout  certain 
que  les  gens  d'arraes  ne  vouldroient 
estre  contens  de  leurs  gaiges  par  foiblo 
monnoye,  &c. 


Feudal  System.  TROUBLES  AT   PARIS.  227 

But  whatever  opportunity  might  now  be  afforded  for  estab- 
lishiiiir  a  just  and  tree  eonstitution  in   Franee  was  „     , , 

'  •  ...  Troubles  at 

entirely  lost.  Charles,  inexperieneed  and  snr-  I'ans. 
rounded  by  evil  counsellors,  thought  the  States- ■^'*^*^'" 
General  inclined  to  encroach  upon  his  rights,  of  wliidi,  in  the 
best  part  of  his  life,  he  was  always  abundantly  careful.  He 
dismissed,  therefore,  the  assembly,  and  had  recourse  to  the 
easy  but  ruinous  expedient  of  debasing  the  coin.  This  led  to 
seditions  at  Paris,  by  which  his  authority,  and  even  his  life, 
were  endangered.  In  February,  1357,  three  months  after 
the  last  meeting  hfid  been  dissolved,  he  was  obliged  to  con- 
voke the  States  again,  and  to  enact  an  ordinance  coiifoiinable 
to  the  petitions  tendered  l>y  the  former  assembly.^  This  con- 
tained many  excellent  provisions,  both  for  the  redress  of  abuses 
and  the  vigorous  prosecution  of  the  war  against  Edward ; 
and  it  is  ditlicult  to  conceive  that  men  who  advised  measures 
so  conducive  to  the  public  weal  could  have  been  the  blind  in- 
struments of  the  king  of  Navarre.  But  this,  as  I  have 
already  observed,  is  a  problem  in  history  that  we  cannot  hope 
to  resolve.  It  appears,  however,  that,  in  a  few  weeks  after 
the  promulgation  of  this  ordinance,  the  proceedings  of  the  re- 
tbrmers  fell  into  discredit,  and  their  commission  of  thirtv-six, 
to  whom  the  collection  of  the  new  subsidy,  the  redress  of 
grievances,  and,  in  fact,  the  whole  administration  of  govern- 
ment had  been  intrusted,  became  unpo]Hilar.  The  subsidy 
produced  much  less  than  they  had  led  the  people  to  expect: 
brieriy,  the  usual  conserpience  of  deinocratical  emotions  in  a 
monarchy  took  place.  Disa])pointed  by  the  failure  of  hopes 
mu'easonably  entertained  and  iniprovidently  encouraged,  and 
disgusted  liy  the  excesses  of  the  violent  demagogues,  the  na- 
tion, especially  its  privileged  classes,  who  seem  to  have  con- 
curred in  the  <triginal  proceedings  of  the  States-General, 
attached  themselves  to  the  party  of  Charles,  and  enaltled  him 
to  ([uell  opposition  by  force.''  Marcel,  provost  of  the  trailers, 
a  municipal  magistrate  of  Paris,  detected  in  the  overt  execu- 
tion of  a  traitorou-i  consj>ira(V  with  the  king  of  Navarre,  was 
put  to  death  liy  a  private  han<l.  \\  lialever  there  hail  been 
of  real  |»alrioti>m  in  the  States-General,  artfully  confounded, 
according  to  the   practice  of  courts,  with  these  schemes  of 

1  Op|onn»nce«  Jen  RoU,  t.  III.  p.  121.      cnim  rogni   ne(cotla  ninl«  Itq.  &c.     Con- 
>  ItUrorilia    iiiota,    ll!l    tn-«    Btatun   iib     tinuiitor  Giil.  Je  XimnU  in  S|il(llcBio,  t. 
lnr<-i>to  i>r<>|H>i>lt<j  cennarerunt.     Ex  tunc     ill.  p.  11.0. 


228  ARBITRARY  TAXATIOX,       Chap.  II.  Part  II. 

disaffected  men,  shared  in  the  common  obloquy ;  whatever 
substantial  reforms  had  been  projected  the  government  threw 
aside  as  seditious  innovations.  Charles,  who  had  assumed 
the  title  of  regent,  found  in  the  States-General  assembled  at 
Paris,  in  1359,  a  very  different  disposition  from  that  which 
their  predecessors  had  displayed,  and  publicly  restored  all 
counsellors  whom  in  the  former  troubles  he  had  been  com- 
pelled to  discard.  Thus  the  monarchy  resettled  itself  on  its 
ancient  basis,  or,  more  properly,  acquired  additional  stability.-^ 
Both  John,  after  the  peace  of  Bretigni,  and  Charles 
V.  imposed  taxes  without  consent  of  the  States- 

Taxes 

imposed  by  General.^  The  latter,  indeed,  hardly  ever  con- 
Charies^v  vokcd  that  assembly.  Upon  his  death  tlie  conten- 
tion between  the  crown  and  representative  body 
onihwm-e  of  ^^'^^  renewed ;  and,  in  the  first  meeting  held  after 
ciiaiies  VI.  the  accession  of  Charles  VI.,  the  government  Avas 
compelled  to  revoke  all  taxes  illegally  imposed 
since  the  reign  of  Philip  IV.  This  is  the  most  remedial  or- 
dinance, perhaps,  in  the  history  of  French  legislation.  "  We 
will,  ordain  and  grant,"  says  the  king,  "  that  the  aids,  subsi- 
dies, and  impositions,  of  whatever  kind,  and  however  imposed, 
that  have  had  course  in  the  realm  since  the  reign  of  our 
predecessor,  Philip  the  Fair,  shall  be  repealed  and  abolished ; 
and  we  will  and  decree  that,  by  the  course  which  the  said  im- 
positions have  had,  we  or  our  successors  shall  not  have  ac- 
quired any  right,  nor  shall  any  prejudice  be  wrought  to 
our  people,  nor  to  their  privileges  and  liberties,  which  shall 
be  reestablished  in  as  full  a  manner  as  they  enjoyed  them  in 
the  reign  of  Philip  the  Fair,  or  at  any  time  since ;  and  we 
will  and  decree  that,  if  anything  has  been  done  contrary  to 
them  since  that  time  to  the  present  hour,  neither  we  nor  our 
successors  shall  take  any  advantage  therefrom."^  If  circum- 
stances had  turned  out  favorably  for  the  cause  of  liberty,  this 
ordinance  might  have  been  the  basis  of  a  free  constitution, 
in  respect,  at  least,  of  immunity  from  arbitrary  taxation.  But 
the  coercive  measures  of  the  court  and  tumultuous  spirit  of 

1  A  very  full  account  of  these  trans-  lainvilliers  and  5Iably,  whom,  however, 

actions  is  given  by  Secousse,  in  his  His-  it  is  well  worth  while  to  hear, 

tory  of  Charles  the  Had,  p.  107,  and  in  •-  Mably,  1.  v.  c.  5,  note  5. 

his  preface  to  the   third  volume  of  the  3   Ordonnances  des  Rois,  t.  vi.  p.  564. 

Ordonnances  des  Rois.     The  reader  must  The   ordinance  is  long,  containing   fre- 

make  allowance  for  the  usual  partialities  quent  repetitions,   and   a  gi-eat   redun- 

of  a  French  historian,  where  an  opposi-  dance  of  words,  intended  to  give  more 

tion  to  the  reigning  prince  is  his  subject,  force,  or  at  least  solemnity. 
A  contrary  bias  is  manifested  by  Bou- 


Feudal  System.     AND  REMEDIAL  ORDINANXE.  220 

the  Parisians  produced  an  open  quarrel,  in  whicli  the  pop- 
ular party  met  with  a  decisive  failin-e. 

It  sienis,  indeed,  impossible  that  a  number  of  deputies, 
elected  merely  tor  the  puri)Ose  of  granting  money,  ean  ])os- 
sess  that  weight,  or  be  invested  in  the  eyes  of  their  eoiistitu- 
ents  with  that  awtidness  of  station,  wliich  is  re(iuirc(l  to 
withstand  the  royal  autliority.  The  States-General  had  no 
right  of  redressing  abuses,  excejit  by  petition  ;  no  share  in 
the  exercise  of  sovereignty,  which  is  inseparable  from  the 
legislative  jxiwer.  Hence,  even  in  their  proper  de|)artment 
of  imposing  taxes,  they  were  supposed  inciipable  of  binding 
their  constituents  without  their  special  assent.  "Whetlicr  it 
were  the  timidity  of  the  dci)Uties,  or  false  notions  of  freedom, 
which  produced  this  doctrine,  it  was  evidently  repugnant  to 
the  stability  and  dignity  of  a  representative  assembly.  Nor 
was  it  less  ruinous  in  practice  than  mistaken  in  theory.  For 
as  the  necessary  sultsidies,  after  being  provisionally  granted 
by  the  States,  were  often  rejected  by  their  electors,  the  king 
fomid  a  rea-onalde  pretence  for  dispensing  with  the  concur- 
rence of  hi-i  subjects  wlun  he  levied  contributions  upon 
them. 

The  States-General  were  convoked  but  rarely  under 
Ciiarle>  VI.  ami  VII.,  both  of  whom  levied  money  ^,    ^ 

.  ,  ,      .  ^^         ,  /    State.-i- 

wuhoiit  their  concurrence,  let  there  are  remark-  General 
able  testimonies  under  the  latter  of  these  princes  "jj:|j.",'^^.g  y^ 
that  the  sanction  of  national  representatives  wivs 
still  esteenie(l  strictly  requi>ite  to  any  ordinance  imposing  a 
general  t;ix,  however  the  emergency  of  circumstances  might 
excuse  a  more  arbitrary  procedure.  Thus  Charles  VII..  in 
14.'i(J,  declares  that  he  has  set  up  again  the  aids  which  had 
been  previously  abolislie*!  bi/  the  consent  of  the  three  estates.^ 
Anfl  in  the  important  edict  establisliing  the  companies  of  or- 
domiauce,  whidi  is  recited  to  Ije  done  by  tiie  arlvice  and 
coim«el  of  the  States-General  assembled  at  Orleans,  the  for- 
tv-(irst  section  appears  to  !•<  ar  a  necessary  construction  tiiat 
no  tallag<'  <'ould  lawfully  be  imposed  without  such  consent. - 
It  i-  maintained,  indeed,  Ijy  some  writers,  that  tin-  pei|)etual 
taille  e-tablished  alujut  the  sjime  time  was  actually  grantetl  Iiy 
these  States  of  H'-i'J,  though  it  does  not  .so  ajjpear  upon  the 


1  Onlonnancon  dpn  Hold.  t.  xlll.  p.  211.    (frnntcd  money  during  tliU  rclgn  :  t.  il 
s  Iblrl  ,  \,.  '.i\2.     noiiliilnvllll..rn  men-    \>.  70. 
iouK  otUer  iuiilaDci-H    where   die   StjiU.-M 


230  PKOVINCIAL  ESTATES.       Chap.  II.  Part  II. 

face  of  any  ordinance.-'    And  certainly  this  is  consonant  to  the 
real  and  recognized  constitution  of  that  age. 

But  the  crafty  advisers  of  courts  in  the  fifteenth  century, 
Provincial  enlightened  by  experience  of  past  dangers,  were 
estates.  averse  to  encountering  these  great  political  masses, 

from  which  there  were,  even  in  peaceful  times,  some  disquiet- 
ing interferences,  some  testimonies  of  public  spirit,  and  rec- 
ollections of   liberty   to  apprehend.     The  kings   of  France, 
indeed,  had  a  resource,  which  generally  enabled  them  to  avoid 
a  convocation  of  the  States-General,  without  violating  the 
national  franchises.      From  provincial  assemblies,  composed 
of  the  three  orders,  they  usually  obtained  more  money  than 
they  could  have  extracted  from  the  common  representatives 
of  the  nation,  and  heard  less  of  remonstrance  and  demand.^ 
Languedoc  in  particular  had  her  own  assembly  of  states,  and 
was  rarely  called  upon  to  send  deputies  to  the  general  body, 
or  representatives  of  what  was  called  the  Languedoil.     But 
Auvergne,  Normandy,  and  other  provinces  belonging  to  the 
latter  division,  had  frequent  convocations  of  their  respective 
estates  during  the  intervals  of  the  States- General  —  intervals 
which  by  this  means  were  protracted  far  beyond  that  dura- 
tion to  which  the  exigencies  of  the  crown  would  otherwise 
have  confined  them.^     This  was  one  of  the  essential  differ- 
ences between  the  constitutions  of  France  and  England,  and 
arose  out  of  the  original  disease  of  the  former  monarchy  — 
the  distraction  and  want  of  unity  consequent  upon  the  de- 
cline of  Charlemagne's  family,  which  separated  the  different 
provinces,  in  respect  of  their  interests  and  domestic  govern- 
ment, from  each  other. 

But  the  formality  of  consent,  whether  by  general  or  pro- 
vincial states,  now  ceased  to  be  reckoned  indispensable.  The 
lawyers  had  rarely  seconded  any  efforts  to  restrain  arbitrary 
power :  in  their  hatred  of  feudal  principles,  especially  those 
of  territorial  jurisdiction,  every  generous  sentiment  of  free- 
dom w^as  proscribed ;  or,  if  they  admitted  that  absolute  pre- 
rogative might  require  some  checks,  it  was  such  only  as 
themselves,  not  the  national  representatives,  should  impose. 
Taxes  of  Charles  VII.  levied  money  by  his  own  authority. 
Louis  XI.       Louis  XI.  carried  this  encroachment  to  the  highest 

1    Br^quigny,     preface     au   treizi^me        2  Villaret,  t.  xi.  p.  270. 
tome  des  Ordounances.    BoulainvilUers,        3  Ordonnaaces  des  Rois,  t.  iii.  preface 
t.  iii.  p.  108. 


Feudal  System.    STATES-GEXEKAL  OF  TOURS.  231 

pitcli  of  (.'xaction.  It  was  the  boa>:t  of  oourtiei-s  that  Iio  first 
released  the  kings  ot"  Fnuioc  from  dependence  {/tors  de  ptige)  ; 
or,  in  other  worils,  that  he  ett'ectually  deniolisiied  those  bar- 
riers which,  however  imperfect  and  ill-phiced,  had  imposed 
some  impediment  to  the  estubhshment  of  despotism.^ 

The  exactions  of  Louis,  however,  thougli  borne  with 
patience,  did  not  pass  for  legal  with  those  upon  whom  they 
pressed.  ^len  still  remcmbcretl  their  ancient  privileges, 
whicli  they  might  see  with  mortilication  well  preserved  in 
England.  "  There  is  no  monarch  or  lord  upon  earth  (says 
Philil)  de  Cumines,  himself  bred  in  courts)  who  can  raise  a 
larthing  upon  his  subjects,  beyond  his  own  domains,  without 
their  free  concession,  except  througii  tyranny  and  violence. 
It  may  be  ol)jected  that  in  some  cases  there  may  not  be  time 
to  assemble  tliem,  and  that  war  will  bear  no  delay;  but  I  re- 
ply (he  proceeds)  that  such  haste  ought  not  to  be  made,  and 
there  will  be  time  enough;  and  I  tell  you  that  princes  are 
more  [towcrfid.  and  more  dreatled  by  their  enemies,  when 
they  undertake  anything  witli  the  consent  of  their  subjects."  ^ 

The  States-General  met  but  twice  during  the  reign  of 
Lfjuis  XI..  and  on  neither  occasion  for  the  purpose  „   , 

..  .  Ti  V  1  1      •        1         .         States- 

oi  grantmg  money.     IJut  an  a.ssembly  ni  the  hrst  Oeueraiof 
year   of    Charles    VIII.,  the    Slates   of   Tours   in  J^'g'^" '" 
1484,  is  too  imjjortant  to  be  overlooked,  as  it  marks 
the  htst  struggle  of  the  Frcncli  nation  by  its  legal  representa- 
tives tor  immunity  from  aibitrary  taxation. 

A  warm  contention  arose  for  the  regency  upon  the  acces- 
sion of  Charles  VIII.,  between  his  aunt,  Anne  de  Bcaujeu, 
wliom  the  hue  king  liad  appointed  by  testament,  and  the 
])rinces  of  the  blood,  at  the  head  of  whom  stood  the  duke  of 
Orleans,  afterwards  Louis  XII.  The  latter  combined  to  de- 
mand a  convocation  of  the  States-General,  wliicli  accordingly 
took  jilace.  Tlie  king's  minority  and  tlie  factions  at  court 
seemed  no  untiivorable  omens  for  liberty.  But  a  scheme  was 
artfully   contrived    whicli   had   the    most    direct    tendency  to 

1  Tin-  pri'Ciru  to  the  Hixtt'cntli  volume  (1p  Coiiiirn's  was  forcibly  stnick  with  the 

of   OriloiitiHtirpH,  Ix-fore  huoIikI,  (liMpliiys  ililTiTciit    Hituation  of    Knulaii'l  ami    tlio 

a  laiiieiitahir-  pirturv  of  tho  iiit<Tiinl  nit-  Nctlicrlanils.     Ami  Sir   .John    Fortfsciio 

unlioii  of  Krnnre  in    coiiK4'(|iifuro  of  i;x-  haw  a  rcmarkahli'  passa(;o  on  th<'  poverty 

OMiva- tixntioii  ami  other  ahUHoH.  Tliitio  and  Kcrvitudi'  of  the   Kreiirh    eniiiiiioim, 

PTil".   ill  a  li-«<   Hu'i.'nirnte<l  ilet(n>o,  con-  contnuste.l    with    KllK'li^*h   fieeiiieii— Dif- 

thiiie'l  eTi-r  t^iiK'e  to  ri-lapl  tin-  improve-  fereiiri)  of    Miiiltod    uiiJ  Ahuolute  .Moii- 

meiit   nml  <liiiiiiiii<li  the    liitriii-ie   pro"-  arehy,  p.  17. 

p<Tity    of  n   eouiitr)'  bo   vxtniorilinarily        'i  Mem.  do  Coiiiliie!',  I.  iv.  i'.  !!• 
endowed  with  natural  aUrantag<-ii.  Philip 


232  STATES-GENERAL  OF  TOURS.    Chap.  II.  Paet  II. 

break  the  force  of  a  popular  assembly.  The  deputies  were 
classed  in  six  nations,  who  debated  in  sepai'ate  chambers,  and 
consulted  each  other  only  upon  the  result  of  their  respective 
dehberations.  It  was  easy  for  the  court  to  foment  the  jeal- 
ousies natural  to  such  a  partition.  Two  nations,  the  Norman 
and  Burgundian,  asserted  that  the  right  of  providing  for  the 
regency  devolved,  in  the  king's  minority,  upon  the  States- 
General  ;  a  claim  of  great  boldness,  and  certainly  not  much 
founded  upon  precedents.  In  virtue  of  this,  they  proposed  to 
form  a  council,  not  only  of  the  princes,  but  of  certain  depu- 
ties to  be  elected  by  the  six  nations  who  composed  the  States. 
But  the  other  four,  those  of  Paris,  Aquitaine,  Languedoc,  and 
Languedoil  (which  last  comprised  the  central  provinces),  re- 
jected this  plan,  from  which  the  two  former  ultimately  de- 
sisted, and  the  choice  of  councillors  was  left  to  the  princes. 
A  firmer  and  more  unanimous  spirit  was  displayed  upon 
the  subject  of  public  reformation.  The  tyranny  of  Louis 
XI.  had  been  so  unbounded,  that  all  ranks  agreed  in  calling 
for  redress,  and  the  new  governors  were  desirous,  at  least  by 
punishing  his  favorites,  to  show  their  inclination  towards  a 
change  of  system.  They  were  very  far,  however,  from  ap- 
proving the  propositions  of  the  States-General.  These  went 
to  points  which  no  court  can  bear  to  feel  touched,  though 
there  is  seldom  any  other  mode  of  redressing  public  abuses : 
the  profuse  expense  of  the  royal  household,  the  number  of 
pensions  and  improvident  grants,  the  excessive  establishment 
of  troops.  The  States  exj)licitly  demanded  that  the  taille  and 
all  other  arbitrary  imposts  should  be  abolished  ;  and  that 
from  thenceforward,  "  according  to  the  natural  liberty  of 
France,"  no  tax  should  be  levied  in  the  kingdom  without  the 
consent  of  the  States.  It  was  with  great  difficulty,  and 
through  the  skilful  management  of  the  court,  that  they  con- 
sented to  tlie  collection  of  the  taxes  payable  in  the  time  of 
Cliarles  VII.,  with  the  addition  of  one  fourth  as  a  gift  to  the 
king  upon  his  accession.  This  subsidy  they  declare  to  be 
granted  "by  way  of  gift  and  concession,  and  not  otherwise, 
and  so  as  no  one  should  from  thenceforward  call  it  a  tax,  but 
a  gift  and  concession."  And  this  was  only  to  be  in  force  for 
two  years,  after  which  they  stipulated  that  another  meeting 
should  be  convoked.  But  it  was  little  likely  that  the  govern- 
ment would  encounter  such  a  risk ;  and  the  princes,  whose 
factious  views  the  States  had  by  no  means  seconded,  felt  no 


Feudal  System.      SCHEME  OF  JURISDICTIOX. 


233 


temptation  to  uruo  atraiii  their  convocation.  No  ai^^ieinlily  in 
the  annals  ot"  France  seems,  notwithstamlinji;  some  party 
selfishness  arisinir  out  of  the  division  into  nations,  to  have 
conducted  itself  with  so  much  public  spirit  and  niodcration ; 
nor  had  tliat  i-otmtry  perhaps  ever  so  fair  a  prospect  of  esialj- 
li>liin<r  a  legitimate  constitution.* 

5.  The   right  of  jurisdiction    has    luidergone    changes    in 
France   and    in    the   adiacent   countries   still  more 
remarkahlc   than    tliose   ot    tlie   legislative   power ;  cii:iiii:.s  in 
and  passed  through  three  very  distinct  stages,  as  pj,'ji[|"|,f '''^ 
the    ]M)pular,  aristocratic,  or  regal   influence  pre-  France, 
dominated  in  the  political  sj-stem.     The   Franks,  orijiinai 
Lombards,  and  Sa.vons  seem  alike  to  have  been  f*"''.""""' ^l^ 
jealous  ot  juilicial  authority,  and  averse  to  surren- 
dering what  concerned  every  man's  private  riglit  out  of  the 
hands  of  his  neighbors  aiitl  his  eijuals.      Every  ten  families 
are  supiKised  to  liave  had  a  magistrate  of  their  own  election: 
the  titliingman  of  England,  the  decanus  of  France  and  Loin- 
bardy.'-     Next  in  oriler  was  the  Ceiitenariiis  or  Ilundredary, 
whose  name  expresses  the  extent  of  his  jurisdiction,  and  who, 
like  tlie  Decanus,  was  chosen  by  those  sul>ject  to  it.^     But  tlie 
authority  of  these  petty  magistrates  was  gradually  coiitined 
to  tlie  less  important  sul)jects  of  legal  iiupiiry.     No  man,  by 
a  cjipitulary  of  Charlemagne,  could  i>e  impleaded  for  his  life, 
or  libertv,  or  lands,  or  servants,  in   the   hundred  court.''     In 
such  weighty  matters,  or  by  way  of  appeal  from  th(!    lower 
jurisdictions,  the  count  of  the  district  was  judge.     He  indeed 
was  appointeil  by  the  sovereign;  but  his  power  was  checked 
bv   as^e.-sors,    called    8<abini,   who   held  their  olfice    by  the 
election,  or  at  least  the  concurrence,  of  the  people.^     An  ulti- 


*  I  am  altoffcther  imlobUMl  to  flnrnler 
for  the  proc<H-ilin(;j  of  the  StutcHof  Tours. 
Hi-i  :iri-ouiit  (lli.-t.  <li'  Kriincc,  t.  xviii.  p. 
l.M-US)  is  exlriMncIv  ropinus,  and  tlo- 
rivi-.l  from  n  iniinn.»Ti|it  juiiriial.  Co- 
uiini'it  alluil<-M  to  tln-in  xoini-tinicx,  but 
with  littlo  particularity.  Tlif  hIiovc 
nii'ntioned  inaiiuiwript  wajt  pulilixlit'd  in 
lr<i,'}.  ainon^  thv  DocuinuUH  IneditK  HUr 
rUintiiire  (Ib  France. 

'  Tliu  DtTsnUH  lit  mcntioniMl  liy  a 
writer  of  tlir;  ninth  a(.'i-  an  tlie  lowc.tt 
uperii-x  of  ju<li;i-.  lMiMic-<IL'it4'ly  uniler  the 

!'■•■• "■■-        !'■•■' ift<r  if  coMipareil  to 

I  1  ',  iif  achnn'h  where 

I    ,  .  Ill,  an<l  the  former 

to  an  intonur  pntihyter.     Du  Cunge,  v. 


Decanus ;  and  Muratori,  Antii[.  Ital. 
DiHRert.  10. 

'■>  ]t  in  evident  from  the  Capitularies  of 
Charleniuf;ne  (BaUize,  I.  i.  p.  i'lii.  4ti'i) 
that  tliu  (,'entenarii  were  elected  by  tlio 
people  ;  that  is,  I  suppose,  the  frce- 
iiolderg. 

*  Ut  nullus  homo  in  placito  centenarii 
ncqun  lul  mortem,  neine  ad  libertjitem 
Huam  nmittend.'im,  ant  ad  res  reddcmlas 
vel  mancipia  judicetur.  Sed  i^ta  aut  in 
prewnti.\  comitis  vel  niissornm  no^lro- 
ruui  jndicentur.  Oapit.  .\.D.  Kll!:  llaluz. 
p.  4UT. 

'  llaluzii  Capitularia,  p.  4ilil:  Muni- 
tfiri.  Diisert.  iD;  l»u  Can  o.  v.  .S.-al.inl. 
These  Scjiblui  may  be  traced  by  the  light 


234 


TEERITOEIAL  JUKISDICTION.    Chap.  II.  Pakt  II. 


mate  appeal  seems  to  have  lain  to  the  Count  Palatine,  an 
officer  of  the  royal  household ;  and  sometimes  causes  were 
decided  by  the  sovereign  himself.^  Such  was  the  original 
model  of  judicature  ;  but  as  complaints  of  injustice  and  neg- 
lect were  frequently  made  against  the  counts,  Charlemagne, 
desirous  on  every  account  to  control  them,  appointed  special 
judges,  called  Missi  Regii,  who  held  assises  from  place  to 
place,  inquired  into  abuses  and  maladministration  of  justice, 
enforced  its  execution,  and  expelled  inferior  judges  from  their 
offices  for  misconduct.^ 

This  judicial  system  was  gradually  superseded  by  one 
Territorial  founded  upon  totally  opposite  principles,  those  of 
jurisdiction,  feudal  privilege.  It  is  difficult  to  ascertain  the 
progress  of  territorial  jurisdiction.  In  many  early  charters 
of  the  French  kings,  beginnino'  with  one  of  Da^obort  I.  in 
630,  we  find  inserted  in  their  grants  of  land  an  immunity 
from  the  entrance  of  the  ordinary  judges,  either  to  hear 
causes,  or  to  exact  certain  dues  accruing  to  the  king  and  to 
themselves.^  These  charters  indeed  relate  to  church  lands, 
which,  as  it  seems  impUed  by  a  law  of  Charlemagne,  univer- 


of  charters  clown  to  the  eleventh  century. 
Recueil  des  Historiens,  t.  vi.  preface,  p. 
186.  There  is,  in  particular,  a  decisire 
proof  of  their  existence  in  918,  in  a  record 
which  I  have  already  had  occasion  to 
quote.  Vaissette.  Hist,  de  Langviedoc,  t. 
ii.  Appendix,  p.  56.  Du  Gauge,  Baluze, 
and  other  antiquaries  have  confounded 
the  Scabini  with  the  Rachimburgil,  of 
whom  we  read  in  the  oldest  laws.  But 
Savigny  and  Guizot  have  proved  the  lat- 
ter were  landowners,  acting  in  the  coun- 
ty courts  as  judges  under  the  presidency 
of  the  count,  but  wholly  independent  of 
him.  The  Scabini  in  Charlemagne's  age 
superseded  them .  —  Essais  sur  l"Histoire 
de  France,  p.  259,  272. 

1  Du  Cange.  Dissertation  14,  sur  Join- 
ville;  and  Glossary,  v.  Comites  Palatini; 
Mem.  de  I'Acad.  des  Inscript.  t.  xxx.  p. 
590.  Louis  the  Debonair  v^ave  one  day 
in  every  week  for  hearing  causes ;  but 
his  subjects  were  required  not  to  have 
recourse  to  him,  unless  where  the  Missi 
or  the  counts  had  not  done  justice.  Ba- 
luze, t.  i.  p.  668.  Charles  the  Bald  ex- 
pressly reserves  an  appeal  to  himself 
from  the  inferior  tribunals.  Capit.  869, 
t.  ii.  p.  215.  In  his  reign  there  was  at 
least  a  claim  to  sovereignty  preserved. 

-  For  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Missi 
Regii.besides  the  Capitularies  themselves, 
see  Muratori's  eightli  Dissertation.    They 


went  their  circuits  four  times  a-year. 
Oapitul.  .4..T).  812;  .\.d.  82.3.  A  vestige 
of  this  institution  long  continued  in  tlie 
province  of  Auvergne,  uniler  the  name 
of  Grands  Jours  d"Auvergne ;  which 
Louis  XI.  revived  in  1479.  Garnier, 
Hist,  de  France,  t.  xviii.  p.  4.58. 

s  If  a  charter  of  Clovis  to  a  monastery 
called  Reoraaense,  dated  496,  is  genuine, 
the  same  words  of  exemption  occurring 
in  it,  we  must  refer  territorial  jurisdic- 
tion to  the  very  infancy  of  the  French 
mon.archy.  And  M.  Lehuerou  (Inst. 
Caroling,  p.  225  et  post)  has  strongly 
contended  for  the  right  of  lords  to  exer- 
cise jurisdiction  in  virtue  of  their  owner- 
ship of  the  soil,  and  without  regard  to 
the  personal  law  of  tho.se  coming  within 
its  scope  by  residence.  This  territorial 
right  he  deduces  from  the  earliest  times; 
it  was  an  enl.argement  of  the  ancient 
mundium,  or  protection,  among  the  Ger- 
mans ;  which  must  have  been  solely  per- 
sonal before  the  establishment  of  sepa- 
rate property  in  land,  but  became  local 
after  the  settlement  in  Gaul,  to  which 
that  great  civil  revolution  was  due.  The 
authority  of  M.  Lehuerou  is  entitled  to 
much  respect ;  yet  his  theory  seems  to 
involve  a  more  extensive  development  of 
the  feudal  system  in  the  Jleroviugian 
period  than  we  generally  admit. 


Feudal  System.     TERRITORIAL  JURISDICTION.  235 

sallv  jx)-.-L'sseil  an  exemption  from  onlinary  jurisdiction.  A 
preceileiit,  liowever,  in  Miirculfiis  Icails  us  to  iut'or  a  similar 
immunity  to  have  been  usual  in  gifts  to  private  persons.^ 
These  rights  of  justice  in  the  beneficiary  tenants  of  the  crown 
are  attested  in  several  passages  of  the  capitularies.  And  a 
charter  of  Louis  I.  to  a  jjrivate  individual  contains  a  full  and 
exclusive  concession  of  jurisdiction  over  all  persons  resident 
within  tiie  territory,  though  subject  to  the  appellant  control 
of  the  royal  triliunals.-  It  is  obvious,  indeed,  that  an  ex- 
emption from  the  regular  judicial  authorities  implied  or  natu- 
rally led  to  a  right  of  a<lininistering  justice  in  their  place. 
But  this  could  at  lirst  hardlv  extend  beyond  the  tributaries  or 
villeins  who  cultivated  their  master's  soil,  or,  at  most,  to  free 
persons  without  property,  resident  in  the  territory.  To  de- 
termine their  ijuarrels,  or  chastise  their  offences,  was  no  very 
illustrious  privilege.  An  alodial  freeholder  could  own  no 
jurisdiction  but  that  of  the  king.  It  was  the  general  preva- 
lence of  subinfeudation  whieii  gave  importance  to  the  terri- 
torial jurisdictions  of  the  nobility.  For  now  the  military 
tenants,  instead  of  repairing  to  the  county-court,  sought  jus- 
tice in  that  of  their  immediate  lord  ;  or  rather  the  count  him- 
self, become  the  suzerain  instead  of  the  governor  of  his  dis- 
trict, altered  the  form  of  his  tribunal  upon  the  feudal  model.* 
A  system  of  jirocedure  so  congenial  to  tiie  spirit  of  the  age 
spread  universally  over  France  and  Germany.  The  tri- 
bunals of  the  king  were  forgotten  like  his  laws ;  the  one 
retiiining  as  little  authority  to  correct,  as  the  other  to  regu- 
late, tiie  decisions  of  a  territorial  judge.  The  rules  of  evi- 
dence were  super>ided  by  that  monstrous  birth  of  ferocity 
and  superstition,  the  judicial  combat,  and  the  maxims  of  law 
reduced  to  a  few  cajtricious  customs,  which  varied  in  almost 
every  barony. 

1  Mareulfi  Formula!,  1.  i.  c.  17.  well  as  royal  tribunals.    Si  aliquia  cpis- 

-  Kt    nullum  coiiii-i,    ni-c    virnrius,  noc  copu.'!,   vel   oonies  ac  Ta.<i.sus  iiostiT  sue 

jiiniorcn   corum,   m-c   illuH  jmlcx  piibli-  lioiniiii  contra  reotiuu  ct  jiistitiani  fere- 

cuK  illoruin.  lioniinuK  qui  miper  illoruui  rit.  et  si  inili-  aJ  nos  ix-clainavcrit,  sciat 

aprixloiie  liabitaiit,  aut   in  illoruni   pro-  quia,  sicut  ratio  et  lex  est,  hoc  ouiondare 

prio.  ilihtrinp'n-  nf<- ju'llrare  pmnuniant ;  faciemu.s. 

»«-l  .lohaniiei  et  (ilii  Hui,  et  puKteritiL"  il-  ^  We  may  perhaps  infer,  from  a  capitu- 

Inruin.  illi  l•<)^  jmlirent   et   clintrinKant.  lary   of  Charlemagne   in    SdH,   that    tlio 

Kt  qui('<)ui<l   IMT  Uvem  juillraverint,  uta-  fen.liil  tenants  w.Te  already  eniplov'   "•'* 

hili»  j>ernianent.      Kt  h1  extra  le){em  fece-  aji.w.isorK  in  the  iiihniiii!*tr.itiiin  of  jii-'tice, 

rint,  [XT  le(fem  onu-ndent.     Baluzil  Ca-  concurrently  with  the  Sealiini  inenlicncd 

pitularla.  t.  ii.  p.  l*).'!.  above.     Ut    iiulhis   ad    pliieitnni    veniro 

Thi»    upiM-llnnt   rnntrol  wa*  predorved  eopitur,  nl!<i  qui  eansam    habet  ad  (Hiii'- 

liy   the   capltnlnry   of  Charlex   the    llald,  renduni,    exrepli^     Krablnl.<    et    vassallU 

quotcJ  already,  'over   the   territorial  as  comituni.  llalu/.ii  C'apituhriu,  t.  1.  p. -liio. 


236  TERRITOEIAL  ADMINISTRATION.     Chap.  II.  Part.  II. 

These  rights  of  administering  jnstice  were  possessed  by  the 
owners  of  fiefs  in  very  different  degrees ;  and,  in 
France,  were  divided  into  the  high,  the  middle, 
and  the  low  jurisdiction.-^  The  first  species  alone  (la  haute 
justice)  conveyed  the  power  of  life  and  death  ;  it  was  inherent 
in  the  baron  and  the  cliatelain,  and  sometimes  enjoyed  by  the 
simple  vavassor.  The  lower  jurisdictions  were  not  competent 
to  judge  in  capital  cases,  and  consequently  forced  to  send  such 
criminals  to  the  court  of  the  superior.  But  in  some  places,  a 
thief  taken  in  the  fact  might  be  punished  with  death  by  a 
lord  who  had  only  the  low  jui-isdiction.  In  England  this  priv- 
ilege was  known  by  the  uncouth  terms  of  Infangthef  and 
Outfangthef.  The  high  jurisdiction,  however,  was  not  very 
common  in  this  country,  except  in  the  chartered  towns.^ 

Several  customs  rendered  these  rights  of  jurisdiction  far 
is  admin-  less  instrumental  to  tyranny  than  we  might  infer 
istration.  from  their  extent.  While  the  counts  were  yet 
officers  of  the  crown,  they  frequently  appointed  a  deputy,  or 
viscount,  to  administer  justice.  Ecclesiastical  lords,  who  were 
prohibited  by  the  canons  from  inflicting  capital  punishment, 
and  supposed  to  be  unacquainted  with  the  law  followed  in 
civil  courts,  or  unable  to  enforce  it,  had  an  officer  by  name 
of  advocate,  or  vidame,  whose  tenure  was  often  feudal  and 
hereditary.  The  viguiers  (vicarii),  bailiffs,  provosts,  and 
seneschals  of  lay  lords  were  similar  ministers,  though  not  in 
general  of  so  permanent  a  right  in  their  offices,  or  of  such 
eminent  station,  as  the  advocates  of  monasteries.  It  seems 
to  have  been  an  established  maxim,  at  least  in  later  times, 
that  the  lord  could  not  sit  personally  in  judgment,  but  must 
intrust  that  function  to  his  bailiff  and  vassals.^     According  to 

1  Velly,  t.  Ti.  p.  131 :  Denisart,  Hou-  It  is  remarkable  that  the  Neapolitan 
ard,  and  other  law-books.  barons  had  no  criminal  jurisdiction,  at 

2  A  strangely  cruel  priyilege  was  pes-  least  of  the  higher  kind,  till  the  reign 
sessed  in  Aragon  by  tlie  lords  who  had  of  Alfonso,  in  1443,  who  sold  tliis  de- 
not  the  higher  jurisdiction,  and  conse-  structive  privilege,  at  a  time  when  it 
quently  could  not  publicly  execute  a  was  almost  abolished  in  other  king- 
criminal  :  that  of  starving  him  to  death  doms.  Giannone,  1.  xxii.  c.  5.  and  1. 
in  prison.     This  was  established  by  law  xxvi.  c.  6. 

in   1247.     Si  vassallus   domini  non   ha-  3  Boutillier,    in    his    Somme    Rurale, 

bentis  merum  nee  mixtum  imperium,  in  written  near  the  end  of  the  fourteenth 

loco   occideret   vassalluni,  dominus    loci  century,  asserts  this  positively.     II  con- 

potcst  eum  occidere  fame,  frigore  et  siti.  vient  quilz  facent  jugier  par  aultre  que 

Et  quilibet  dominus  loci  habet  hanc  ju-  par  enlx,  cest  a  siivoir  par  leurs  honnnes 

risdictionum  necaudi  fame,  frigore  et  siti  feudaulx  a  leursemonce  et  conjure  ['!]  ou 

in  suo  loco,  licet  nullam  aliam  jurisdic-  de  leur  bailiff  ou  lieutenant,  et  out  res- 

tionem  criminalem  habeat.     Du  Cange,  sort  a  leur  souverain.     Fol.  3. 
voc.  Fame  necare. 


Feidal  System. 


TRIAL   BY  COMBAT. 


237 


the  teiulal  rules,  tlie  lord's  vassals  or  peers  o(  his  eourt  were 
to  assist  at  all  its  proeeediuj^s.  "  There  are  some  plaees," 
says  Beaumaiioir,  "  where  the  bailiti"  deeides  in  jud;riiR'iit, 
and  others  where  the  vassals  of  the  lord  deeide.  But  fvcn 
where  tiie  l)ailiti"  is  the  judge,  he  ouirht  to  ailvise  with  the 
most  prudent,  and  determine  by  their  advice  ;  sinee  thus 
he  shall  be  most  secure  if  an  appeal  is  made  from  his  judg- 
ment." ^  And  indeed  the  piesence  of  these  assessors  was 
so  essential  to  all  territorial  jurisdiction,  that  no  lord,  to  what- 
ever rights  of  justice  his  lief  might  entitle  him,  was  qualified 
to  exercise  them,  unless  he  had  at  least  two  vassals  to  sit  as 
peers  in  his  court." 

These  courts  of  a  feudal  barony  or  manor  required  neither 
the  knowledge  of  positive  law  nor  the  dictates  of  Trial  by 
natural  sagacity.  In  all  doubtful  cases,  and  espe-  couibut. 
cially  where  a  crime  not  capable  of  notorious  proof  was 
charged,  the  combat  was  awardeil ;  and  God,  as  they  deemed, 
was  the  judge.*  The  nobleman  fought  on  horseback,  with  all 
his  arms  of  attack  and  defence  ;  the  plebeian  on  foot,  with  his 
clul)  and  target.  The  same  were  the  wi-apons  of  the  cham- 
jiions  to  whom  women  and  ecclesiastics  were  permitted  to 
intrust  their  rights.''  If  the  combat  was  hitended  to  ascer- 
tain a  civil  right,  the  vanquished  party  of  course  forfeited  his 
claim  and  paid  a  fine.  If  he  fought  by  proxy,  the  champion 
was  liable  to  have  his  hand  sti'uck  otf;  a  regulation  necessary, 


1  Cofltuinc?  di'  Bi.-ftUToiiiis.  p.  11. 

-  It  wa«  In-vful.  ill  sui-li  case,  to  bor- 
row till-  vassjiU  of  the  su|MTior  lord. 
Tliauniassiere  xur  Iteaiiiiianoir.  |>.  375. 
S«-<?  I)u  Canin-.  v.  I'ares,  an  excellent  ar- 
ticle :  and  i'lacituiii. 

In  Kii^land  a  manor  is  extin|;uiKheil, 
at  leiixt  an  to  jnrisdiction.  when  there  are 
not  two  freeholdcrn  i<uhji-<-t  to  ewheat 
left  a.1  Biiitors  to  the  court-liaron.  Their 
tenancy  nin«t  theri'fon'  have  l)een  creat- 
ed iM-fiire  the  Hlatute  of  Quia  Kmptore.'i, 
1>>  Klw.  I.  (12'.«'K  Hiiico  which  no  new 
ei<tHle  in  fM'-sunple  can  tie  held  of  the 
l<ird,  nor  coniwquently,  be  liable  to  en- 
cheat  to  him. 

3  Trial  b\  combat  does  not  neern  to 
have  ent'iblliihed  itKtdf  completely  in 
Fr.iti'i!  till  finlnili  went  into  diniiHe, 
Mjiiih  eiinrleiiiii^iic  rather  encoiirajjed, 
;iii'i  which,  ill  his  a|{e,  the  cler,fy  for  the 
iiio-t  p.irl  approved.  The  former  Kpecien 
of  di'<'i-i<iii,  may.  however.  Iw  met  with 
iiiider  the  flrnt  Menivin^^an  kinifH  (Uti'K. 
Turoii.  I.  Til.  c.  1"J,  I.  X.  c.  Ill),  and  neeniK 
to  liare  prevailed  in   llurgundy.     It   in 


established  by  the  laws  of  the  .Memanni 
or  Suabiaiis.  Ualuz.  t.  i,  p.  Sd.  It  was 
always  popular  in  Loinhardy.  Liutpraiid, 
kiiin  of  the  Lombards,  says  in  oue  of  his 
laws.  Incerti  sunius  de  judicio  Dei,  et 
((uosilam  nudivimus  per  pii);nani  sine 
justl  causill  suaiii  causam  perdere.  Sed 
propter  coiisuetudinem  ({eutis  nostriu 
Luii({obardorum  legem  inipiaiu  vetare 
noil  possuiiius.  Muratori,  Script.  Keriiiii 
Italiiarniii,  t.  ii.  p.  tio.  Otlm  II.  e.-itali- 
lislied  it  in  all  dispute.''  conceniiii);  real 
property  ;  and  there  is  a  famous  case 
where  the  ri;fht  of  representation,  or 
preference  of  the  sou  of  a  deceased  elder 
child  to  his  uncle  in  succession  to  hi-i 
friandfather's  estate,  was  settled  by  this 
U'st. 

♦  Kor  the  cercmonii'.'  of  trial  by  com- 
bat, see  llouard,  .Viiciciiiies  I,ol.\  Fniii- 
^'oisw,  t.  i.  p.  2f4  :  Vclly,  t.  vi.  p.  lei; 
lte<'Ueil  di'S  Historieiis,  t.  xl  prcfai'c,  p. 
1K9;  l)u  Caiitfe,  V.  Dnellniii.  The  gri-iit 
oritrinal  authorities  are  the  .\s>ii'i'.<  du 
.lerusalem,  c.  \Ui,  and  Ueauumuoir,  c. 
31. 


238  TKIAL  BY  COMBAT.  Chap.  II.  Part  II. 

perhaps,  to  obviate  the  corruption  of  these  hired  defenders. 
In  criminal  cases  the  apjiellant  sutFered,  in  the  event  of  defeat, 
the  same  punisliment  wliich  the  law  awarded  to  the  offence  of 
which  he  accused  his  adversary.''  Even  where  the  cause  was 
more  peaceably  tried,  and  brought  to  a  regular  adjudication 
by  the  court,  an  appeal  for  false  judgment  might  indeed  be 
made  to  the  suzerain,  but  it  could  only  be  tried  by  battle,^ 
And  in  this,  the  appellant,  if  he  would  impeach  the  concur- 
rent judgment  of  the  court  below,  was  compelled  to  meet  suc- 
cessively in  combat  every  one  of  its  members  ;  unless  he 
should  vanquish  them  all  within  the  day,  his  life,  if  he  escaped 
from  so  many  hazards,  was  forfeited  to  the  law.  If  fortune 
or  miracle  should  make  him  conqueror  in  every  contest,  the 
judges  were  equally  subject  to  death,  and  their  court  forfeited 
their  jurisdiction  forever.  A  less  perilous  mode  of  appeal 
was  to  call  the  first  judge  who  pronounced  a  hostile  sentence 
into  the  field.  If  the  appellant  came  off  victorious  in  this 
challenge,  the  decision  was  reversed,  but  the  court  was  not 
impeached.^  But  for  denial  of  justice,  that  is,  for  a  refusal 
to  try  his  suit,  the  plaintiff  repaired  to  the  court  of  the  next 
superior  lord,  and  supported  his  appeal  by  testimony.*  Yet, 
even  here  the  witnesses  might  be  defied,  and  the  pure  stream 
of  justice  turned  at  once  into  the  torrent  of  barbarous  con- 
test.^ 

1  Beaumanoir,  p.  315.  rain,  which  in  general  would  be  readily 

2  Id.  c.  61.  In  England  the  appeal  for  afforded.  We  find  several  instances  of 
false  judgment  to  the  king's  court  was  the  king's  interference  for  the  redress  of 
not  tried  by  battle.     Glanvil,  1.  xii.  c.  7.  injuries    in    Suger's   Life   of   Louis   VI. 

3  Id.  c.  61.  That  active  and  spirited  prince,  with  the 
*  Id.  p.  315.     The  practice  was  to  chal-    assistance  of  his  enlightened  biographer, 

lenge  the  second  witness,  since  the  testi-  recovered  a  great  part  of  the  royal  au- 

mony  of  one  was  insuificient.     But  this  thority,  which  had  been  reduced  to  the 

must  be   done  before  he  completes  his  lowest  ebb  in  the  long  and  slothful  reign 

oath,  says  Beaumanoir,  for  after  he  has  of   his   father,   Phihp   I.      One   passage 

been  sworn  he  must  be  heard  and  be-  especially  contains  a   clear  evidence  of 

lieved:   p.  316.     No  one  was  bound,  as  the  appeal  for  denial  of  justice,  and  con- 

we  may  well  believe,  to  be  a  witness  for  sequently  refutes   Mably's   opinion.     In 

another,  in  cases  where  such  an  appeal  1105   the  inhabitants   of  St.    Severe,  in 

might  be  made  from  his  testimony.  Berri,  complain  of  their  lord  Ilumbald, 

5  Mably  is   certainly  mistaken  in  his  and  request  the  king  aut  ad  exequendam 

opinion  that  appeals  for  denial  of  justice  justitiam   cogere,   aut  jure   pro  injuria 

were  not  older  than  the  reign  of  Philip  castrum  lege  Salica  amittere.      I  quote 

Augustus.     (Observations  sur  I'Hist.  de  from  the  preface  to  the  fourteenth  volume 

F.  1.  iii.  c.  3.)     Before  this  time  the  vas-  of  the  Recueil  des  Ilistoriens,  p.  44.     It 

sal's  remedy,  he  thinks,  was  to  make  war  may  be   noticed,  by   the   way,  that   lex 

upon  his  lord.     And  this  may  probably  Salica  is  here  used  for  the  feudal  cus- 

have  been  frequently  practised.     Indeed  toms ;    in  which  sense  I  believe  it  not 

it  is  permitted,  as  we  have  seen  by  the  unfrequently  occurs.   Many  proofs  might 

code  of  St.  Louis.     But  tliose  who  were  be  brought  of  the  interposition  of  both 

not  strong  enough  to  adopt  this  danger-  Louis  VI.  and  VII.  in  the  disputes  be- 

ous  means  of  redress  would  surely  avail  tween  their  barons  and  arriere  vassals. 

themselves  of  the  assistance  of  the  suze-  Thus   the  war  between  the   latter  and 


Feudal  System.    ESTABLISHMENTS  OF  ST.  LOUIS  239 

Such  wa>  the  judicial  system  of  Fi'iince  wlien  St.  Louis 
enacted  that  great  code  which  bears  tlie  name  EstaWi^u- 
ot"  his  Estabhshments.  The  rules  of  civil  and  nientsof 
cnmuial  pmcedure.  as  well  as  the  prniciples  or 
legal  decisions,  are  there  laid  down  with  much  detail.  But 
that  incomparable  prince,  unable  to  overthrow  tlie  judicial 
combat,  contincd  himself  to  discourage  it  by  the  example  of 
a  wiser  jurisprudence.  It  was  al)olishe(l  throughout  the 
royal  domains.  The  bailiffs  and  seneschals  who  rendered 
justice  to  the  king's  immediate  sul)jects  were  bound  to  follow 
his  own  laws.  He  not  only  received  appeals  from  their  sen- 
tences in  his  own  court  of  peers,  but  listened  to  all  complaints 
with  a  kind  of  patriarchal  simplicity.  "  Many  times,"  says 
Joinville,  "  I  have  seen  the  good  saint,  after  hearing  mass,  in 
the  summer  season,  hiy  him<elf  at  the  foot  of  an  oak  in  the 
wood  of  Vincennes.  and  make  us  all  sit  round  him ;  when 
those  who  would,  came  and  s|)ake  to  him  without  let  of  any 
otHcer,  and  he  would  ask  aloud  if  there  were  any  present 
who  had  suits ;  and  when  they  appeared,  would  bid  two  of 
his  bailiffs  dcteruiine  their  cause  upon  the  spot."  ^ 

The  iufiueuee  of  this  new  jurisprudence  established  by  St. 
Louis,  combined  with  the  great  enhancements  of  the  royal 
prerogatives  in  every  other  respect,  produced  a  rapid  change 
in  the  legal  administration  of  France.  Though  trial  bv  com- 
bat occupies  a  C(»usi(|crable  sj)ace  in  the  work  of  lieaumauoir, 
written  under  Philip  the  Bold,  it  was  already  much  limited. 
Appeals  for  false  judgment  might  sometimes  be  tried,  as  he 
ex[)resse3  it,  par  erremens  de  plait ;  that  is,  I  presume,  where 
the  alleged  error  of  the  court  below  was  in  matter  of  law. 
For  wager  of  battle  was  chiefly  intended  to  ascertain  contro- 
verted facts.'^  So  where  the  suzerain  saw  clearly  that  the 
judgment  of  the  inferior  court  was  right,  he  ougiit  not  to  per- 
mit the  »>mbat.  Or  if  the  plaiutiff,  even  in  the  first  instance, 
could  produce  a  record  or  a  written  obligation,  or  if  tlie  fict 
before  the  court  w;ls  notorious,  there  was  no  room  for  battle.'* 

Henry  IT.  of  En|;1iiri<l  In  IIW  wn»  occn-  llKhmentfi   of   St.  Louis  nrv  not  the  orig- 

RioncU  by   bin  entiTtaininK  a  romplnint  iniil  cnnstitutiunn  Of  tliiit  prince,  but  ii 

fmni    tbe   count   of   Auvoncnp,    without  worli   founcled  on  thoni — ii  roni|iil;iti(>n 

wnitinK   for   tbe   Jiwi'ion   of  Ilenrj',   an  of  tho  olil  cuHtonis  bli-mlcd  witb  bi-  ni'W 

Juki-  i>f  (iulcnni". — Vclly,   t.   ii.   p.   190.  pn>vi.iionH.     K^prit  dcK  lyoix,    xxviii.   31, 

Lyttflt/.n'x    Mi-nry    II.    vol.    Ii.    p.   448;  3S.      I  do   not   know  tliut   iiii>  lat.T  In- 

H 'I    !■  -  M'-'.'-i-"-    ubi  Hupra,  p.  49.  ijuirtTH  liiivc  iidopt^'d  tbis  bypotliunif). 

nriirvK,  t.  I.   p.  2.0.  ■■>  !Ji-uuiiinni>ir,  p.  'SI. 

.M            ,        .        .,            tbut    tho   Entub-  a  Id.  p.  314. 


240  ESTABLISHMENTS   OF  ST.  LOUIS.    Chap.  II.  Part  II. 

It  would  be  a  hard  thing,  says  Beaumanoir,  that  if  one  had 
killed  my  near  relation  in  open  day  before  many  credible 
persons,  I  should  be  compelled  to  fight  in  order  to  prove  his 
death.  This  reflection  is  the  dictate  of  common  sense,  and 
shows  that  the  prejudice  in  favor  of  judicial  combat  was 
dying  away.  In  the  Assises  de  Jerusalem,  a  monument  of 
customs  two  hundred  years  earlier  than  the  age  of  Beau- 
manoir, we  find  little  mention  of  any  other  mode  of  decision. 
The  compiler  of  that  book  thinks  it  would  be  very  injurious 
if  no  wager  of  battle  were  to  be  allowed  against  witnesses  in 
causes  affecting  succession ;  since  otherwise  every  right  heir 
might  be  disinherited,  as  it  would  be  easy  to  find  two  persons 
who  would  perjure  themselves  for  money,  if  they  had  no  fear 
of  being  challenged  for  their  testimony.''  Tliis  passage  indi- 
cates the  real  cause  of  preserving  the  judicial  combat,  sys- 
tematic perjury  in  witnesses,  and  want  of  legal  discrimination 
in  judges. 

It  was,  in  all  civil  suits,  at  the  discretion  of  the  litigant 
parties  to  adopt  the  law  of  the  Establishments,  instead  of 
resorting  to  combat.^  As  gentler  manners  prevailed,  espe- 
cially among  those  who  did  not  make  arms  their  profession, 
the  wisdom  and  equity  of  the  new  code  was  naturally  pre- 
ferred. The  superstition  which  had  originally  led  to  the 
latter  lost  its  weight  through  experience  and  the  uniform 
opposition  of  the  clergy.  The  same  superiority  of  just  and 
settled  rules  over  fortune  and  violence,  which  had  forwarded 
the  encroachments  of  the  ecclesiastical  courts,  was  now  mani- 
fested in  those  of  the  king.  Philip  Augustus,  by  a  famous 
ordinance  in  1190,  first  established  royal  courts  of  justice, 
held  by  the  officers  called  bailiffs  or  seneschals,  who  acted  as 
the  king's  lieutenants  in  his  domains.^  Every  barony,  as  it 
became  reunited  to  the  crown,  was  subjected  to  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  one  of  these  officers,  and  took  the  name  of  a  bailliage  or 
seneschaussee  ;  the  former  name  prevailing  most  in  the  north- 
ern, the  latter  in  the  southern,  provinces.  The  vassals  whose 
lands  depended  upon,  or,  in  feudal  language,  moved,  from  the 
supei'iority  of  this  fief,  were  obliged  to  submit  to  the  ressort 
or  supreme  appellant  jurisdiction  of  the  royal  court  estab- 
lished in  it.*     This  began  rapidly  to  encroach  upon  the  feudal 

1  C.  167.  TAoad.  des  Inscriptions,  t.  xxx.  p.  603. 

2  Beaumanoir,  p.  309.  Mably,  1.  iv.  c.  4.    Boulainvilliers,     t.  ii 

3  Ordonnances  des  Kois,  t.  i.  p.  18.  p.  22. 
*  Du    Cange,    v.    Balivi.      Mem.  de 


Feudal  System.  ROYAL  TKIBUXALS.  241 

rijrhts  of  justice.     In  a  variety  of  cases,  tcrmcil  royal,  the 
territorial  couit  wtxs  pronounceil  incompetent  ;  they  Koyai 
were  reserved  for  the  iudges  of  the  crown ;  and,  'f''"'""''. 

Jo  '  '  an.l  progress 

ni  every  case,  unless  tlic  detendant  excepted  to  tlie  of  their 
jurisdiction,  the  royal  court  niiirht  take  cognizance  J""''^'''"°"- 
of  a  suit,  and  decide  it  in  exclusion  of  tlie  feudal  judicature.^ 
The  nature  of  cases  reserved  under  the  name  of  royal  was 
kept  in  studied  ambiguitv,  under  cover  of  which  the  judges 
of  tlie  crown  perpetually  strove  to  MHdti|)ly  them.  Louis  X., 
Avhen  requested  by  the  barons  of  Champagne  to  ex|)laiu 
what  was  meant  by  royal  causes,  gave  this  mysterious  defini- 
tion :  Everything  which  by  right  or  custom  ought  exclu- 
sively to  come  under  the  cognizance  of  a  sovereign  prince."^ 
Vassals  were  permitted  to  complain  in  the  first  instance  to 
the  king's  court,  of  injuries  conunilted  by  their  lords.  These 
rapid  and  violent  encroachments  left  the  nobility  no  alterna- 
tive but  armed  combinations  to  supfwrt  their  remonstrances. 
Philip  the  Fair  bequeathed  to  his  successor  the  task  of 
appeasing  the  >torm  which  his  own  administration  had  ex- 
cited. Leagues  were  formed  in  most  of  the  northern  provin- 
ces for  the  redress  of  grievances,  in  which  the  third  estate, 
oppressed  by  taxation,  united  with  the  vassals,  whose  feu- 
dal privileges  had  been  infringed.  Separate  charters  were 
granted  to  each  of  these  confederacies  by  Louis  Hutin, 
which  contain  many  remedial  jtrovisions  against  the  grosser 
viohitious  of  ancient  riglits,  though  the  crown  persisted  in 
restniining  territorial  jurisdiction.**  Appeals  became  more 
common  for  false  judgment,  as  well  as  denial  of  right ;  and 
in  neither  was  the  combat  permitted.  It  was  still,  however, 
preserved  in  accusations  of  heinous  crimes,  unsupported  by 
any  testimony  but  that  of  the  prosecutor,  and  was  never 
aljolishe<l  by  any  positive  law,  either  in  France  or  England. 
But  insLiUices  of  its  occurrence  are  not  fre<iuent  even  in  the 
ftjurteenth  century ;  and  one  of  these,  rather  remarkable  in 
it«  circumstances,  must  have  lia<l  a  tendency  to  explo<le  the 

1  Mnbly,  BoulainTllUpn,  Montlosier,  t.  curiU  audiantur,  tpI  In  alio  cnsu  n<l  nos 

1.  p.  1'4.  IMTtiiicuti.     Orcloiiuimccs  dos   Kois,  t.  i. 

-  Onloiinnnroi  Ji-h  Koi»,  p.  flOfi.  ],.  ',i>T2.     Tliis  oriliiniicf   is  of  I'liilip   tlui 

'  Him- [XT]- '■!'■   i.r,.i,ii ii.  ■-lirtn,  DO  Kiiir,   in  V.fH;    but  thoHc  passccl  uinlcr 

•  iib'liti.  MMi  J  mil  iiut  Louis  l{iitiii  lire  to  tlio  !<iiiiK' I'tfrct.  Tln\v 

iNimiiuiu  II"  III!  milijw-  limy  lie  rvmiiit  leiiKtli  in  tlio  Oriloiiiiiiiici'H 

toriiiii  ii'Mtroruiii,  imlmiilur  ill  cnuiuiin  di'S  Kiiis  ;  or  abridged  by  Uouluiiivilliurx, 

coniiii    iio«trl»    offl.mlilms.    m-c    eoruiii  t.  ii.  p.  'J4. 
cauiuL-,  uiiil  lo  caiiu  n-'iortl,  In  uontrii 
VOI^  I.                      10 


242  ROYAL  COUNCIL.  Chap.  IL  Part  IL 

remaining  superstition   whicli  had  preserved  this  mode  of 
decision.-'^ 

The  supreme  council,  or  court  of  peers,  to  whose  deliberate 
P^  functions  I  have  ah-eady  adverted,  was  also  the 

council,  great  judicial  tribunal  of  the  Frencli  crown  from 

of  peers!  ^^^  accession  of  Hugh  Capet.^  By  this  alone  the 
barons  of  France,  or  tenants  in  chief  of  the  king, 
could  be  judged.  To  this  court  appeals  for  denials  of  justice 
were  referred.  It  was  originally  comjiosed,  as  has  been  ob- 
served, of  the  feudal  vassals,  coequals  of  those  who  were  to 
be  tried  by  it ;  and  also  of  the  household  officers,  whose  right 
of  concurrence,  however  anomalous,  was  extremely  ancient. 
But  after  the  business  of  the  court  came  to  increase  throuirh 
the  multiplicity  of  appeals,  especially  fi-om  the  bailiffs  estab- 
lished by  Philip  Augustus  in  the  royal  domains,  the  barons 
found  neither  leisure  nor  capacity  for  the  ordinary  administra- 
tion of  justice,  and  reserved  their  attendance  for  occasions 
where  some  of  their  own  orders  were  implicated  in  a  criminal 
process.  St.  Louis,  anxious  for  regularity  and  enlightened 
decisions,  made  a  considerable  alteration  by  introducing  some 
Cours  councillors  of  inferior   rank,  chiefly  ecclesiastics, 

piemeres.  ^^^  adviscrs  of  tlic  court,  thougli,  as  is  supposed, 
without  any  decisive  suffrage.  The  court  now  became  known 
by  the  name  of  parliament.  Registers  of  its  proceedings 
Avere  kept,  of  which  the  earliest  extant  are  of  the  year  1254. 
It  was  still  perhaps,  in  some  degree  ambulatory ;  but  by  far 
the  greater  part  of  its  sessions  in  the  thirteenth  century  were 
at  Paris.  The  councillors  nominated  by  the  king,  some  of 
them  clerks,  others  of  noble  rank,  but  not  peers  of  the  ancient 
baronage,  acquired  insensibly  a  right  of  suffrage.^ 

An  ordinance  of  Philip  the  Fair,  in  1302,  is  generally 
Parliament  supposcd  to  liavc  fixed  the  scat  of  parliament  at 
of  Paria.        Paris,  as  well  as  altered  its    constituent   parts.* 

1  Philip  IV.  restricted  trial  by  combat  the  same  conditions  as  in  France.     Pink- 
to  cases  where  four  conditions  were  unit-  erton's  Hist,  of  Scotl.  vol.  i.  p.  66. 
ed.     The  crime  must  be  capital ;  its  com-  2  [\ote  XVII.] 

mission  certain  ;  The  accused  greatly  sus-  s  Boulainvilliers,  t.  li.  p.  29,  44  ;  Mably, 
pected  ;  And  no  proof  to  be  obtained  by  1.  iv.  c.  2  ;  Encyclopedie,  art.  Parlement ; 
witnesses.  Under  thcJe  limitations,  or  Mem.  de  I'Acad.  des  Inscript.  t.  xxx.  p. 
at  least  some  of  them,  for  it  appears  that  603.  The  great  difficulty  I  have  found 
they  were  not  all  regarded,  instances  oc-  in  this  investigation  will  plead  my  ex- 
cur  for  some  centuries.  cuse  if  errors  are  detected. 

See  the  singular  story  of  Carougcs  and  ■*  Pasqnier  (Recherches   de  la  France, 

Le  Gris,  to  which  I  allude  in  the  text.  1.  ii.  c.  3)  published  this  ordinance,  which, 

Villaret,  t.  xi.  p.  412.     Trial  by  combat  indeed,  as  the  editor  of  Ordonnancos  des 

was  allowed  in  Scotland  exactly  under  Rois,  t.  i.  p.  547,  observes,  is  no  ordinance, 


Feudal  System.  PEEKS  OF  FRANCE.  243 

Perhaps  a  series  of  progressive  changes  has  been  referred  to 
a  single  epoch.  But  whether  by  virtue  of  tliis  ordinanee,  or 
of  more  gradual  events,  the  character  of  the  Aviiule  feudal 
court  WiV*  nearly  ul)literated  in  that  of  the  parliament  of 
Paris.  A  systematic  tribunal  took  the  place  of  a  loose 
aristocratic  assembly.  It  was  to  hold  two  sittings  in  the 
Tear,  each  of  two  months'  duration ;  it  was  composed  of  two 
prelates,  two  counts,  thirteen  clerks,  and  as  many  laymen. 
Great  changes  were  made  afterwards  in  this  constitution. 
The  nobility,  who  originally  sat  there,  grew  wearv  of  an 
attendance  which  detained  them  from  war,  and  from  their 
favorite  pursuits  at  home.  The  bishops  were  dismissed  to 
their  nec<'ssary  residence  upon  their  sees.^  As  obii-iitious 
they  withdrew,  a  class  of  regular  lawyers,  origi-  '^^ "  ^'''***' 
nally  employed,  as  it  appears,  in  the  preparatory  business, 
without  any  decisive  voice,  came  forward  to  the  higher  places, 
and  established  a  complicated  and  tedious  system  of  proce- 
dure, which  was  always  characteristic  of  French  jurisprudence. 

They  introduced  at  the  same  time  a  new  theory  of  abso- 
lute power,  and  unlimited  obedience.     All  feudal  ^ppijup   f 
privileges  were  treated  as  encroachments  on  the  the  feudal 
imprescriptible    rights   of  monarchy,      "With    the  *y*'*'"- 
natural   liias  of  lawyers   in   favor  of  prerogative   conspired 
that  of  the  clergy,  who  fled  to  the  king  for  refuge  against  the 
tyranny  of  the  Itarons.     In  the  civil  and  canon  laws  a  svstem 
of  political  maxims  was  found  very  uncongenial  to  the  feudal 
customs.     The  French  lawyers  of  tlie  fourteenth  and  fifteenth 
centuries   freipiently   give   their   king   the    title   of   emperor, 
and  treat  disul)edience  to  him  as  sacrilesre.'^ 

But  among  these  lawyers,  altlioiigh  the  general  tenants  of 
the  crown  by  barony  cetised  to  ai>iiear,  there  still  Pecrsof 
continut.-d  to  sit  a  more  eminent  l)ody,  tiie  lay  and  i'"'"''^- 
spiritual  peers  of  France,  representatives,  as  it  were,  of  that 
ancient  baronial  ari^tocnu'y.  It  is  a  very  controverted 
qiie-tion  at  what  time  this  exclusive  dignity  of  peerage,  a 
word  oitviously  applical)le  ijy  the  feudal  law  to  all  persons 
coequal  in  ilegree  of  tenure,  w;i.s  reserved  to  twelve  vassals. 
At  iIm-  iijronatiiiii  of  I'liilip  Augustus,  in  1171),  we  first  ])er- 

'     '  ■  \<riiti(,ii  ofone  the  J)o«t  authorities  I  hiive  found.  There 

1  -"    it  ejitnlilliili  limy  very  [losNitily  l>e   HupiTliT  wiirks  on 

'"■  '"■    I'l  .i.iiiienf  in   I'lirJH.  tliin  Iminrli  of  tlie   Kremli  roimtitution 

'^  '     '     '■•    Kniiire.  f.   »li    p.  ;>i.'J,  wliirli  liiive  not  lalli'ii  lull,  my  hiindn. 

■I'J    I  ,     !''•■  '■"■<     I'arleiufUt,   are  -  Malily,  1.  iv.  c.  ;j.  noi,.  In." 


244:  JURISDICTION  OF  PARLIAMENT.    Chap.  II.  Part  II. 

ceive  the  six  great  feudataries,  dukes  of  Burgundy,  Nor- 
mandj,  Guienne,  counts  of  Toulouse,  Flanders,  Champagne, 
distinguished  by  the  offices  they  performed  in  that  ceremony. 
It  was  natural,  indeed,  that,  by  their  princely  splendor  and 
importance,  they  should  eclipse  such  petty  lords  as  Bourbon 
and  Coucy.  however  equal  in  quality  of  tenure.  During  the 
reign  of  Philip  Augustus,  six  ecclesiastical  peers,  the  duke- 
bishops  of  Rheims,  Laon,  and  Langres,  the  count-bishops  of 
Beauvais,  Chalons,  and  Noyon,  were  added  as  a  sort  of 
parallel  or  counterpoise.-^  Their  pi*ecedence  does  not,  how- 
ever, appear  to  have  carried  with  it  any  other  privilege,  at 
least  in  judicature,  than  other  barons  enjoyed.  But  their 
preeminence  being  fully  confirmed,  Philip  the  Fair  set  the 
precedent  of  augmenting  their  original  number,  by  conferring 
the  dignity  of  peerage  on  the  duke  of  Britany  and  the  count 
of  Artois.'^  Other  creations  took  place  subsequently ;  but 
these  Avere  confined,  during  the  period  comprised  in  this 
work,  to  princes  of  the  royal  blood.  The  peers  were  con- 
stant members  of  the  parliament,  from  which  other  vassals 
holding  in  chief,  were  never,  perhaps,  excluded  by  law,  but 
their  attendance  was  rai'e  in  the  fourteenth  century,  and  soon 
afterwards  ceased  altogether.^ 

A  judicial  body,  composed  of  the  greatest  nobles  in  France, 

as  well  as  of  learned  and  eminent  lawyers,  must 

the  jurisdic-   naturally  have  soon  become  politically  important. 

tioii  of  the      Notwithstandino;  their  disposition  to  enhance  every 

parliament.  P  -i  n       t    i  •    ^^ 

royal  prerogative,  as  opposed  to  leudai  privileges, 
the  parliament  was  not  disinclined  to  see  its  own  protection 
invoked  by  the  subject.  It  appears  by  an  ordinance  of 
Charles  V.,  in  1371,  that  the  nobility  of  Languedoc  had 
appealed  to  the  parliament  of  Paris  against  a  tax  imposed 
by  the  king's  authority ;  and  this,  at  a  time  when  the  French 
constitution  did  not  recognize  the  levying  of  money  without 
consent  of  the  States-General,  must  have  been  a  just  ground 
of  appeal,  though  the  present  ordinance  annuls  and  overturns 
it.'*  During  the  tempests  of  Charles  VI.'s  unhajjpy  reign 
the  parliament  acquired  a  more  decided  authority,  and  held, 
in  some  degree,  the  balance  between  the  contending  factions 
of  Orleans  and  Burgundy.     This  influence  was  partly  owing 

1  Velly,  t.  ii.  p.  287 ;  t.  lii.  p.  221 ;  t.  iv.        3  Encyclop^die,  art.  Parlement,  p.  6. 
p.  41.  *  Mably,  1.  v.  c.  5,  note  5. 

2  Id.  t.  vii.  p.  97. 


Feudal  System.     KEGISTKATIOX  OF  TJOY.VL  EDICTS.  245 

to  one  remarkable  funi'tion  attributed  to  tbo  ])arliainent, 
wbifb  raised  it  inueh  above  the  level  ot"  a  inrnly  jtolitical 
tribunal,  and  has  at  various  times  wrought  striking  etiects 
in  the   French  monarchy. 

The  tew  ordinances  enacted  by  kings  of  France  in  the 
twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries  were  generally  by  the  advice 
of  their  royal  council,  in  which  prol)alily  they  were  solenuily 
declared  ais  well  as  agreed  uiion.     But  after  the 

,        ,  ,       .  ,.  1  •    I     i       1  Roval  oitiots 

gradual  revolution  ot  govennnent.  wlucli  took  away  e„rfi;ist.T.(i 
from  the  feudal  aristocracv  all  coiUrol  over  the  '"  i"''"'''!- 
kuig  s  edicts,  and  substituted  a  new  magistracy  lor 
the  ancient  baronial  court,  these  legislative  ordinances  were 
commonly  drawn  up  by  the  interior  council,  or  what  we  may 
call  the  ministry.  Thi-y  were  in  some  instances  promulgated 
by  the  king  in  parliament.  Others  were  sent  thither  for 
registration  or  entry  upon  their  records.  This  formality  was 
bv  degrees,  if  not  troin  the  beginning,  deemed  essential  to 
render  them  authentic  and  notorious,  and  therefore  indirectly 
gave  them  the  sanction  and  validity  of  a  law.-'  Such,  at 
least,  appears  to  have  been  the  rei-eived  doctrine  before  the 
end  of  the  fourteenth  century.  It  has  been  contended  by 
Mably,  among  other  writers,  that  at  so  early  an  epoch  the 
]iarli:inient  of  Paris  did  not  enjov.  nor  even  claim  to  itself, 
that  anonial(»us  rigiit  of  jmlgiiig  tlie  expediency  of  edicts 
proceeding  from  the  king,  which  afterwards  so  remarkably 
mcMlitied  tlie  absoluteness  of  his  ])ower.  In  the  tifteenth 
century,  however,  it  certainly  manifested  pretensions  of  this 
nature:  first,  by  registering  ordinances  in  such  a  manner  as 
to  testify  its  own  unwillingness  and  disapprobation,  of  which 
one  instance  occurs  as  early  as  141S,  and  another  in  144.'^); 
and.  afterwards  I»y  remonstrating  against  and  delaying  the 
registration  of  laws  whicli  it  deemed  iMiiiii(  al  to  the  |)ublic 
interest.  A  con^pieuous  ]»roof  of  this  spirit  was  given  in 
their  op[)osition  to  L<tuis  XI.  when  repealing  the  Pragmatic 
Sanction  of  iiis  fatlier  —  an  ordinance  essential,  in  their 
o|>inion,  to  the  liberties  of  the  (i.illican  church.  In  this 
instance  tliey  ultimately  yielded ;  l)nt  at  another  time  iliey 
]ier-i«ted  in  a  r<'fu-al  to  enn-gister  letters  containing  an 
alienation  of  tiie  royal  domain.'' 

The   counsellors  of    parliament    were  originally  :ip|Miiiitrd 

•  Knr\rln\t^l\v,  art.  Pnrli-iiipnt.  llaniivr,  Hint.  Jo  Kniucc,  t.  xvii.  p.  2l'J- 

*>Ulily,  I.  Tt.  c.  6,  iiou-«  Vj  mill  21;    liH*). 


246  COUNSELLORS   OF  PARLLIMENT.    Chap.  II.  Part  II. 

by  tlie  king ;  and  they  were  even  changed  according  to  cir- 
cumstances. Charles  V.  made  the  first  alteration,  by  per- 
mitting them  to  till  np  vacancies  by  election,  which  usage 
continued  during  the  next  reign.  Charles  VII.  resumed  the 
Counsellors  nomination  of  fresh  members  upon  vacancies, 
of  parliament  Louis  XI.  cvcn  displaced  actual  counsellors.  But 
Ufean'/by  ^  ill  14G8,  fi'om  whatcvcr  motive,  he  published  a 
election.  most  important  ordinance,  declaring  the  presidents 
and  counsellors  of  parliament  immovable,  except  in  case  of 
legal  forfeiture.^  This  extraordinary  measure  of  conferring 
independence  on  a  body  which  had  already  displayed  a  con- 
sciousness of  its  eminent  privilege  by  opposing  the  regis- 
tration of  his  edicts,  is  perhaps  to  be  deemed  a  proof  of  that 
shortsightedness  as  to  points  of  substantial  interest  so  usually 
found  in  crafty  men.  But,  be  this  as  it  may,  there  was 
formed  in  the  parliament  of  Paris  an  independent  power  not 
emanating  from  the  royal  will,  nor  liable,  except  through 
foi'ce,  to  be  destroyed  by  it ;  which,  in  later  times,  became 
almost  the  sole  depositary,  if  not  of  what  we  should  call  the 
love  of  freedom,  yet  of  public  spirit  and  attachment  to  justice. 
France,  so  fertile  of  great  men  in  the  sixteenth  and  seven- 
teenth centuries,  might  better  spai'e,  perhaps,  from  her  annals 
any  class  and  description  of  them  than  her  lawyers.  Doubt- 
less the  parliament  of  Paris,  with  its  prejudices  and  narrow 
views,  its  high  notions  of  loyal  obedience  so  strangely  mixed 
up  with  remonstrances  and  resistance,  its  anomalous  privi- 
lege of  objecting  to  edicts,  hardly  approved  by  the  nation 
who  did  not  participate  in  it,  and  overturned  with  facility  by 
the  kino-  whenever  he  thoudit  fit  to  exert  the  sinews  of  his 
prerogative,  was  but  an  inadequate  substitute  for  that  co- 
ordinate sovereignty,  that  equal  concurrence  of  national 
representatives  in  legislation,  which  has  long  been  the  ex- 
clusive pride  of  our  government,  and  to  which  the  States- 
General  of  France,  in  their  best  days,  had  never  aspired. 
Xo  man  of  sane  understanding  would  desire  to  revive  insti- 
tutions both  uncongenial  to  modern  opinions  and  to  the 
natural  order  of  society.  Yet  the  name  of  the  parliament 
of  Paris  must  ever  be  respectable.  It  exhibited  upon  vari- 
ous occasions  virtues  from  which  human  esteem  is  as  insepa- 
rable as  the  shadow  from  the  substance  —  a  severe  adherence 
to  principles,  an  unaccommodating  sincerity,  individual  disin- 

i  Villaret,  t.  xiy.  p.  231 ;  Encyclopedie,  art.  Parlement. 


Feudal  System.    DECLINE  OF  FEUDAL  SYSTEM. 


terestedness  and  consistency.  Whether  indeed  these  quaH- 
ties  have  been  so  generally  characteristic  of  the  French 
peopk-  as  to  attbnl  no  ]>eculiar  connnendation  to  the  parlia- 
ment of  Paris,  it  is  rather  tor  the  observt-r  ot"  the  i)reseut  dav 
than  the  historian  of  past  times  to  decide.^ 

The  i)rincipal  eauses  that  operated  in  subvertinnf  the  feudal 
pystt'in  may  be  comprrhended  under  three  distinct  onuses  of 
heads  —  the  increasing  power  of  the  crown,  the  the  decline 
elfvation  of  the  lower  I'anks,  and  the  decay  of  the  sjstem.*^ 
ffudal  principle. 

It   has  licen  my  object  in  the  last  pages  to  jioint  out  the 
ac(iuisitions  of  power  by  the  crown  of  France  in 

'■  !■   1       •   1      •  1    •     ,•    •    1  1        •  mi       Acquisitions 

r<'-peet  ot   legislative  and  juihcial  authority.     Ihe  of  power  by 
principal   augmentations  of  its  domain  have  been  ^'^'^ '^'^""'"• 
lii.-torically  mentioned  in  the  last  chaiiter,  but  the  Augmente- 
subJL'ct   may   here    require    furtiier   notice.     Tiie  ti*>»  "f  "le 
t  reiicli   kuigs  naturally  acted   upon  a  system,  ni 
order  to   recover  those  possessions  which  the  improvidence 
or  necessities  of  the   Carlovingiau  race  had  suffered  almost 
to  t'all  away  from  the  monarchy.     This  course,  pursued  with 
tolerable  steadiness  for  two  or  three  centuries,  restored  their 
effective  power.     By  escheat  or  forfeiture,  by  bequest  or 
purelia<e,  by  marriage  or  succession,  a  number  of  fiefs  were 
merged  in  their  increasing  domain.^     It  was  part  of  theii" 


•  The  prrivinre  of  I^nguedoc,  with  its 
de|>endeiii-ies  of  Querey  uiiJ  llouernuc, 
hiiriui;  beloii)re.l  uluiost  in  full  sover- 
eitfnty  to  the  count."  of  Touloum-,  waj<  uot 
perhaps  subject  to  the  feu(lal  resort  or 
appcllunt  juririiliction  of  iiiiy  trihuiiiil  at 
PsriM.  Fliilip  the  Kulil.  after  it.s  reuninn 
to  the  crown,  established  the  parli:inieiit 
of  Toulouse,  a  tribunal  without  a|i|ieHl. 
In  12*).  This  was.  Imwever.  sus|»MiJed 
from  l'£i\  to  144^1.  ilurini;  which  interval 
the  |Mrliaini-nt  >>f  I'aris  cxen'iseil  an 
ap|M-llanC  jnri»<lirtion  over  Laiitiuedoc. 
Yiii^xftti',  Hi«t.  de  Lan);.  t.  iv.  p.  tK),  71, 
."_  ]    courtit    rir    parlianiento 

1  by  CharleH  VII.  at  Ore- 
i4'  ■■  ■  i  I  i' ..i,.iiini-.  and  by  Ixiuis  XI.  at 
Kiipb-iiux  and  Idjnn  for  (iuienne  and 
IturjuiiU.  Till-  I.  irlianient  of  lOiucn  is 
1  ,.  institutions  rather 

;(  of  the  parliament 
of  l'.irii>,  ulm  li  h.iU  extended  over  Itur- 
gumly,  and.  in  time  of  |>uace,  over  (iui- 
enne. 

A   work   liiw  ap|>«an-<l   within    a   few 

, ,,1...  1.  .1...... .  ,,„  nbundnnt  ll({ht  on 

'  :iiid    iniiH-d  on   the 

,  :    France,  na  well  oa 


other  countries,  durin);  the  middle  ages. 
I  allude  to  L'Esprit,  Orifjine.  et  Progres 
des  Institutions  judiciaires  de.s  priuci- 
paux  I'ays  de  I'Europe,  by  M.  Meyer,  of 
Amsterdam  ;  espwially  the  first  and  third 
volumes.  It  would  have  been  fortunate 
had  its  publication  preceded  that  of  the 
first  edition  of  the  present  work  ;  a.s  I 
nii^ht  have  rendered  this  chapter  on  the 
feudal  system  iu  many  respects  more 
perspicuous  and  correct.  As  it  is.  with- 
out availinj;  myself  of  M.  Meyer's  learn- 
ing and  acutencss  to  illustrate  the  ob- 
scurity of  the.se  researches,  or  disciissiiit; 
the  few  iiuestions  upon  which  1  might 
venture,  with  deference,  to  adhere  to 
another  opinion,  neither  of  which  could 
conveniently  lie  done  on  the  present 
occasion,  I  shall  content  myself  with  this 
general  reference  to  a  performanci'  of 
singular  diligence  and  ability,  which  no 
student  of  these  anti'inities  should  neg- 
lect. In  all  es.seiitial  points  1  am  happy 
tn  iwrceive  that  .M.  Meyer's  views  of  the 
middle  ages  are  not  fardilferent  from  my 
own.  —  Xi)i'  III  ilii  fiiiirili  I 'III. 

•  The  svord  domain  is  ijilciilati-d.  by  a 
iH.-eiuiug  ambiguity,  to  jierplex  the  ruuder 


248 


CAUSES   OF  DECLINE        Chap.  II.  Part  II. 


policy  to  obtain  possession  of  arriere-fiefs,  and  thus  to  be- 
come tenants  of  their  own  barons.  In  such  cases  the  kino; 
was  obhged  by  the  feudal  duties  to  perform  homage,  by 
proxy,  to  his  subjects,  and  engage  himself  to  tbe  service  of 
his  fief  But,  for  every  political  purpose,  it  is  evident  that 
the  lord  could  have  no  command  over  so  formidable  a 
vassal.-^ 

The  reunion  of  so  many  fiefs  was  attempted  to  be  secured 
by  a  legal  principle,  that  the  domain  was  inalienable  and 
imprescriptible.  This  became  at  length  a  fundamental 
maxim  in  the  law  of  France.  But  it  does  not  seem  to  be 
much  older  than  the  reign  of  Philip  V.,  who,  in  1318, 
revoked  the  alienations  of  his  predecessors,  nor  was  it 
thoroughly  established,  even  in  theory,  till  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury.^ Alienations,  however,  were  certainly  very  repugnant 
to  the  pohcy  of  Philip  Augustus  and  St.  Louis.  But  there 
was  one  species  of  infeudation  so  consonant  to  ancient  usage 
and  prejudice  that  it  could  not  be  avoided  upon  any  sugges- 
tions of  policy ;  this  was  the  investiture  of  younger  princes 
of  the  blood  with  considerable  territorial  appanages.     It  is 


of  French  history.  In  its  primary  sense, 
the  domain  or  desmesne  (dominicuni)  of 
any  proprietor  was  confined  to  the  lands 
in  his  immediate  occupation  ;  excluding 
those  of  which  his  tenants,  whether  in 
fief  or  villenage,  whether  for  a  certain 
estate  or  at  will,  had  an  actual  posses- 
sion, or,  in  our  law-language,  pernancy 
of  the  profits.  TUus  the  compilers  of 
Domesday-Book  distinguish,  in  every 
manor,  the  lands  held  by  the  lord  in 
demesne  from  those  occupied  by  his 
villeins  or  others  tenants.  And  in  Eng- 
land the  word,  if  not  technically,  yet  in 
use,  is  still  confined  to  this  sense.  But 
in  a  secondary  acceptation,  more  usual 
in  France,  the  domain  comprehended  all 
lands  for  which  rent  wjis  paid  (censives), 
and  which  contributed  to  the  regular 
annual  revenue  of  the  proprietor.  The 
great  distinction  w^as  between  lands  in 
demesne  and  those  in  fief.  A  grant  of 
territory,  whether  by  the  king  or  another 
lord,  comprising  as  well  domanial  estates 
and  tributary  towns  as  feudal  superiori- 
ties, was  expressed  to  convey  "  in  donii- 
nico  quod  est  in  dominico,  et  in  feodo 
quod  est  in  feodo."  Since,  therefore,  fiefs, 
even  those  of  the  vavassors  or  inferior 
tenantry,  were  not  part  of  the  lord's 
domain,  there  is,  as  T  said,  an  a])pnreiit 
ambiguity  in  tlie  language  of  histm-ians 
who  speak  of  the  reunion  of  provinces  to 


the  royal  domain.  This  ambiguity,  how- 
ever, is  rather  apparent  than  real.  When 
the  duchy  of  Normandy,  for  example,  is 
said  to  have  been  united  by  Philip  Au- 
gustus to  his  domain,  we  are  not,  of 
course,  to  suppose  that  the  soil  of  that 
province  became  the  jjrivate  estate  of 
the  crown.  It  continued,  as  before,  in 
the  possession  of  the  Norman  barons  and 
their  sub-vassals,  who  had  held  their  es- 
tates of  the  dukes.  But  it  is  meant  on- 
ly that  the  king  of  France  stood  exactly 
in  the  place  of  the  duke  of  Normandy, 
with  tlie  same  i-ights  of  possession  over 
lands  absolutely  in  demesne,  of  rents  and 
customary  payments  from  the  burgesses 
of  towns  and  tenants  in  roture  or  villen- 
age,  and  of  feudal  services  Irom  the  mil- 
itary vassals.  The  immediate  superiori- 
ty, and  the  immediate  resort,  or  juris- 
diction, over  these  devolved  to  the  crown; 
.and  thus  the  duchy  of  Normandy,  con- 
sidered as  a  fief,  was  reunited,  or,  more 
properly,  merged  in  the  royal  domain, 
though  a  very  small  part  of  the  territory 
might  become  truly  domanial. 

1  See  a  memorial  on  the  acquisition  of 
arriere-fiefs  by  the  kings  of  France,  in 
Mem.  de  I'Acad.  des  Inscript.  t.  i.  by  M. 
Dacier. 

-*  Preface  au  15me  tome  des  Ordon- 
nances,  par  M.  Pastoret. 


Feudal  System.      OF  THE  FEUDAL  SYSTEM.  249 

remarkable  that  the  epoch  of  appanages  on  so  great  a  scale 
was  the  reign  of  St.  Louis,  whose  ettbrts  were  constantly 
directed  against  feudal  independence.  Yet  he  invested  his 
brothers  with  the  counties  of  Poitou,  Anjou,  and  Artois, 
and  his  sons  with  those  of  Clermont  and  Alencon.  This 
l)ractice,  in  later  times,  pi-oduced  very  mischievous  conse- 
quences. 

Under  a  sect)nd  class  of  events  that  contributed  to  destroy 
the  sjiirit  of  the  feudal  system  we  may  reckon  the  abolition 
of  villenage,  the  increase  of  conuntTcc^  and  consequent  opu- 
lence of  merchants  and  artisans,  and  esi)ecially  the  institu- 
tions of  free  cities  and  boroughs.  This  is  one  of  the  most 
inqiortant  and  interesting  stejis  in  the  progress  of  society 
during  the  middle  ages,  and  deserves  particular  consider- 
ation. 

The  provincial  cities  under  the  Roman  empire  enjoyed,  as 
is  well  known,  a  nuniicipal   magistracy  and   the  j,-ri-c  an.i 
riirht   of  internal  regulation.      Nor  was  it  repug-  c-hartored 
nant  to  the  spirit  ot  the  I'rank  or  Gothic  con- 
querors to  leave  them  in  possession  of  these  privileges.     It 
wius  long  believed,  however,  that  little,  if  any,  satisfactory 
])roof  of  their  preservation,  either  in  France  or  Italy,  could 
be  found ;  or,  at  least,  if  they  had  ever  existed,  that  they 
were  wholly  swept  away  in  the  former  country  during  the 
confu-ion  ot'  the  ninth  century,  which  ended  in  the  establish- 
ment of  the  feudal  system. 

Everv  town,  except  within  the  royal  domains,  was  subject 
to  some  lord.  In  episcopal  cities  the  bishop  possessed  a 
consideralile  autiiority;  and  in  many  there  was  a  class  of 
resident  nobility.  But  this  subject  has  been  better  eluci- 
dated of  late  years ;  and  it  has  been  made  to  api)ear  that 
in-tances  of  municipal  government  were  at  least  not  rare, 
especiallv  in  the  south  of  France,  throughout  tlic  long 
perioil  Itelweeu  tlie  fall  of  the  western  empire  ami  the  be- 
ginning of  the  twidfth  century,^  though  becoming  far  more 
eoinuioii  in  its  latter  part. 

The  earliest   charters  of  conuuunity  granted  to  towns  in 
Fran<-<'  have  been  coinmonly  icferred  to  the  time  Eiirli.-st 
of    Louis   VI.     Noyon,  St.   Quentin,    Liwn,    and  '^•""■'^•"• 
Amiens  appear  to  have  been  the  lirst  that  received  cinauci- 

»IXoteXVI1I.1 


250  CAUSES   OF  DECLINE        Chap.  II.  Paet  II. 

pation  at  the  liands  of  tliis  prince.^  The  chief  towns  in  the 
royal  domains  were  successively  admitted  to  the  same  privi- 
leges during  the  reigns  of  Louis  VI.,  Louis  VII.,  and  Philip 
Augustus.  This  example  was  gradually  followed  by  the 
peers  and  other  barons ;  so  that  by  the  end  of  the  thirteenth 
century  the  custom  had  prevailed  over  all  Fi-ance.  It  has 
Causes  of  been  sometimes  imagined  that  the  crusades  had 
grautiug        g^  material  influence  in  promoting  the  erection  of 

them  not  to  .   .  ,^,  '-       -, .   .        '^  i  i    i 

be  found  in  communities,  ihose  expeditions  would  have  re- 
the  crusades,  ■pg^\^[  Europe  for  the  prodigality  of  crimes  and 
miseries  which  attended  them  if  this  notion  were  founded 
in  reality.  But  I  confess  that  in  this,  as  in  most  other 
respects,  their  beneficial  consequences  appear  to  me  very 
much  exaggerated.  The  cities  of  Italy  obtained  their 
internal  liberties  by  gradual  encroachments,  and  by  the  con- 
cessions of  the  Franconian  emperors.  Those  uj^on  the 
Rhine  owed  many  of  their  privileges  to  the  same  monarchs, 
whose  cause  they  had  espoused  in  the  rebellions  of  Germany. 
In  France  the  charters  granted  by  Louis  the  Fat  could  hard- 
ly be  connected  with  the  first  crusade,  in  which  the  crown 
had  taken  no  part,  and  were  long  prior  to  the  second.  It 
was  not  till  fitly  years  afterwards  that  the  barons  seem  to 
have  trod  in  his  steps  by  granting  charters  to  their  vassals, 
and  these  do  not  appear  to  have  been  particularly  related  in 
time  to  any  of  the  crusades.  Still  less  can  the  corporations 
erected  by  Henry  11.  in  England  be  ascribed  to  these  holy 
wars,  in  which  our  country  had  hitherto  taken  no  consider- 
able share. 

The  establishment  of  chartered  towns  in  France  has  also 
nor  in  been  ascribed  to  deliberate  policy.     "  Louis  the 

deliberate  Gross,"  says  Robcrtson,  "  in  order  to  create  some 
^°"'^'  power   that   might    counterbalance    those    j^otent 

vassals  who  controlled  or  gave  law  to  the  crown,  first 
adopted  the  plan  of  conferring  new  privileges  on  the  towns 
situated  within  his  own  domain."  Yet  one  does  not  im- 
mediately perceive  what  strength  the  king  could  acquire  by 
granting  these  extensive  privileges  within  his  own  domains, 
if  the  great  vassals  were  only  weakened,  as  he  asserts  after- 
wards, by  following  his  example.  In  what  sense,  besides, 
can  it  be  meant  that  Noyon  or  Amiens,  by  obtaining  certain 

1  Ordonnances  des  Rois,  ubi  supra,  p.  7.     These  charters  are  as  old  as  1110,  but 
the  precise  date  is  unknown. 


FEroAL  System.     OF  THE  FEUDAL   SYSTEM.  2ol 

franchises,  became  a  power  that  coiiUl  counterbahmee  the 
duke  (tf  Xonnaiuly  or  count  ot"  Clianipagne  ?  It  is  more 
natural  to  impute  this  measure,  both  in  tlie  king  and  hi.s 
barons,  to  tlieir  pecuniary  exigencies  ;  for  we  could  hardly 
doubt  that  their  concessions  were  sold  at  the  highest  price, 
even  if  the  existing  charters  did  not  exhibit  the  fullest  jnoof 
of  it.^  It  is  obvious,  however,  that  the  coarser  niotliotls  of 
rapine  must  have  grown  obsolete,  and  the  rights  of  the  in- 
haltitauts  of  towns  to  proi)erty  estalilislied,  before  they  could 
enter  into  any  compact  with  their  lord  for  the  circum- 
purchase   of  libertv.      Guibert,  abbot  of  St.  No-  «*""";? 

*  •  1.1-1  n        att<>iiaiiig 

gent,  near  L,aon,  relates  the  establishment  ot  a  the  treaty 
community  in  that  city  with  circumstances,  that,  in  '^^  '^°"- 
the  main,  migiit  prol)ably  occur  in  any  other  place.  Con- 
tinual acts  of  violence  and  robbery  having  been  committed, 
which  there  was  no  police  aih'(piate  to  })revent,  the  clergy 
and  principal  inhabitants  agreed  to  enfranchise  the  i)0pulace 
for  a  sum  of  money,  and  to  bind  the  whole  society  by  regula- 
tions for  general  security.  These  conditions  were  gladly  ac- 
cepted ;  the  money  was  paid,  and  the  leading  men  swore  to 
maintain  the  privileges  ot  the  inferior  freemen.  The  bishop 
of  Laoii.  who  happened  to  be  absent,  at  first  opposed  this 
new  institution,  but  was  ultimately  indiu'cd,  by  money,  to  take 
a  similar  oath;  and  the  community  was  continued  by  the 
king.  Uiduckily  for  himself,  the  bishop  afterwards  annulled 
the  charter;  when  the  inhabitants,  in  desj)air  at  seeing  them- 
selves reiluced  to  servitude,  rose  and  murdered  him.  This 
was  in  1112;  and  Guibcrl's  narrative  certainly  does  not  sup- 
port the  opinion  that  charters  of  comnmnity  proceeded  from 
tlie  ]M)licy  of  government.  He  seems  to  have  looked  upon 
them  with  the  jealousy  of  a  feudal  al^ltot,  and  blames  the 
bishop  of  Amiens  for  consc-nting  to  such  an  establishment  in 
his  city,  froui  which,  according  to  Guibert,  many  evils  re- 
eulted.  In  his  .sermons,  we  are  told,  this  abbot  used  to 
descant  on  "  those  execralde  conmumities,  where  serfs, 
against  law  and  ju>tice,  withdraw  themselves  from  the  power 
of  their  lords."  '^ 

In  some  wises  they  were  indebted  for  success  to  their  own 
courage  and  love  of  liberty.  Oppressed  by  the  exactions  of 
their  superiors,  they  had  recourse  to  arms,  and  united  lliem- 

1  Orloniiancvf  den  IloU,  t.  xi.  prC-fucc,        a  Hint.  I^ltteniire  ile  In  Kniiioe,  t.  x.  4'i8  ; 
p.  is  ft  fti.  Du  t'liiige,  voc.  Cuuimuiiiu. 


252  CAUSES  OF  DECLINE         Chap.  II.  Part  II. 

selves  in  a  common  league,  confirmed  by  oath,  for  the  sake 
of  recbess.  One  of  these  associations  took  place  at  Mans  as 
early  as  1067,  and,  though  it  did  not  i)roduce  any  charter  of 
privileges,  is  a  proof  of  the  spirit  to  which  ultimately  the 
superior  classes  were  obliged  to  submit.^  Several  charters 
bear  witness  that  thi^  spirit  of  resistance  was  justified  by  op- 
pression. Louis  VII.  frequently  declares  the  tyranny  exer- 
cised over  the  towns  to  be  his  motive  for  enfranchising  them. 
Thus  the  charter  of  Mantes,  in  1150,  is  said  to  be  given 
"  pro  nimia  oppressione  pauperum  :  "  that  of  Compiegne,  in 
1153,  "  propter  enormitates  clericorum : "  that  of  Dourlens, 
granted  by  the  count  of  Ponthieu  in  1202,  "propter  injurias 
et  molestias  a  potentibus  terrte  burgensibus  frequenter  il- 
latas."  2 

The  privileges  which  these  towns  of  France  derived  fro: 
The  extent  their  charters  were  surprisingly  extensive;  esp;.- 
of  their  cially  if  we  do  not  suspect  some  of  them  to  be  mere- 
prmieges.  ^y  j^  confirmation  of  previous  usages.  They  were 
made  capable  of  possessing  common  property,  and  authorized 
to  use  a  common  seal  as  the  symbol  of  their  incorporation. 
The  more  oppressive  and  ignominious  tokens  of  subjection, 
such  as  the  fine  paid  to  the  lord  for  permission  to  marry  their 
children,  were  abolished.  Their  payments  of  rent  or  tribute 
were  limited  both  in  amount  and  as  to  the  occasions  when 
they  might  be  demanded  :  and  these  were  levied  by  assessors 
of  their  own  electing.  Some  obtained  an  exemption  from 
assisting  their  lord  in  war ;  others  were  only  bound  to  follow 
him  when  he  personally  commanded ;  and  almost  all  limited 
their  service  to  one,  or,  at  the  utmost,  very  {ew  days.  If 
they  were  persuaded  to  extend  its  duration,  it  was,  like  that 
of  feudal  tenants,  at  the  cost  of  their  superior.  Their  cus- 
toms, as  to  succession  and  other  matters  of  private  right, 
were  reduced  to  certainty,  and,  for  the  most  part,  laid  down 
in  the  charter  of  incorporation.  And  the  observation  of 
these  was  secured  by  the  most  valuable  privilege  which  the 
chartered  towns  obtained  —  that  of  exemption  from  the  juris- 
diction, as  well  of  tlie  royal  as  the  tei*ritorial  judges.  Tliey 
were  subject  only  to  that  of  magistrates,  either  wholly  elected 
by  themselves,  or,  in  some  places,  with  a  greater  or  less  par- 
ticipation of  choice  in  the  lord.     They  were  empowered  to 

1  Recueil  des  Historiens,  t.  xiv.  preface         2  Oraonnances  des  Rois,  t.  xi.  preface, 
p.  66.  p.  17. 


Feidal  System.    OF  THE  FEUDAL   SYSTi:.\[.  2.")3 

make  special  rules  or,  as  we  call  tliein.  by-laws,  so  as  not  to 
contravi-ne  the  provisions  of  their  charter,  or  the  ordinanc 'S 
of  tlie  kinj:.^ 

It  was  undoubtedly  far  from  the  intention  of  those  barons 
who  ecintiM-red  sucli  inununities  niion  their  sul)jects 
to  relinipiish  their  t>wn  superiority  and  rights  not  of^ftv^  ""^ 
exi)ressly  conceded.       But  a  remarkable    change ''>""*  «'>ti» 

1         ,.,,..  ,.     ,         ,  .  ,  the  king. 

took  place  ni  tiie  begnnnng  or  the  tlnrtcfuth  cen- 
tury, which  affected,  in  a  high  degree,  the  feudal  constitu- 
tiuu  of  France.  Towns,  distrustful  of  tlieir  lord's  lidelity, 
sometimes  called  in  the  king  as  guarantee  of  his  engage- 
ments. Tlie  first  stage  of  roval  interference  led  to  a  more 
extensive  measure.  Philip  Augustus  granted  letters  of  safe- 
guard to  conamnnities  dependent  upon  the  barons,  assuring 
to  tliem  his  own  protection  and  jiatronage.'^  And  this  was 
followed  up  so  quickly  by  the  court,  if  we  believe  some  wri- 
ters, that  iu  the  next  reign  Louis  YIII.  pretended  to  the  im- 
mediate sovereignty  over  all  chartered  towns,  in  exclusion 
of  tlicir  original  liird-.^  Nothing,  pcrlinps,  had  so  decisive 
an  efh'Ct  in  subverting  the  feudal  ari-^tocracy.  The  liarons 
perceived,  too  late,  that,  for  a  price  long  since  lavished  in 
proiligal  magnificence  or  useless  warfare,  they  had  suffered 
tlie  source  of  their  wealth  to  be  diverted,  aud  the  nerves  of 
their  strength  to  be  severed.  The  government  prudently 
respected  tiic  privileges  secured  by  charter.  Philip  the 
Long  established  an  oflicer  in  all  large  towns  to  preserve 
peace  by  an  aruied  police  ;  but  though  subject  to  the  orders 
of  the  crown,  he  was  elected  by  the  burgesses,  and  they  took 
a  mutual  oath  of  fidelity  to  eacli  other.  Thus  shielded  under 
tlie  king's  manth,',  they  ventured  to  encroach  upon  the  neigh- 
boring lords,  and  to  retaliate  for  the  long  oppression  of  the 
commonalty.*     Every  citizen  was  bound  by  oath  to  stand  by 

1  OnloiinanccH  (Jcs  Uois.  prffiiocs  nus  manoir,  hnwovor,  sixty  years  afterwards, 

tonn'H  xi.   ct   xii.;  Du   ('aiiiri-,  voc.  Com-  lays   it  down   that   no   one   ran   rrect   a 

niunia,  Ilostis  ;  Carpfntirr.  Suppl.  ad  Du  coniniuni'   without    the   kin|j;'s   consent, 

Cantfi-.    V.    Ilostis  :   .Matily,  Ohservatioua  c.  5*1.  p.  2<>8.     And  this  was  an  unques- 

Hur  rHiiit.  de  Kninre,  I.  lii.  c.  7.  tionable  maxim   in   the  fourt<'onth  cen- 

•  Mahly,    OliwrvatiouK    sur   rillnt.    de  tury. — Ordonnancc'*,  t.  xi.  p.  2'J. 
Franee.  i.  lii.  r.  7.  *  hi  the  eharter  of  Philip  Au^'ustns  to 

'  lO-piil.-iUit  rivitates  ornnei  »ua«  esse,  the  town   of  Koye   in    I'icarily,  \\r  read, 

in  i|uil>nK  rommuni/e  i-swut.     1  mention  If  any  slnin^;er,  wliether  nohle  or  vilh-in, 

thin  in  defuH'nre    Oi   Uu    CanRe,    Mahly,  commits  a  wronj;  against   the   town,  tlie 

and  other*,  who  nanunie  the  faet  ait  In-  mayor  fhall  summon  him  to  answer  for 

ronfrfU'ertilile  :  hut    tlie  pamuij.f  is  only  it.  atid  if  he  iIih-s  not  ohey  the  summons 

in  a  nionkixli  ehrinirler,  »hoM' authority,  the  nia\or  ami  inhaliitants  may  K"  and 

wen-  it  even    mon-   explieit,   wouM    not  destroy  lii<  lionj.r,  in  wliieh  we  (the  kinjf) 

weij;h  much  in  a  inatttT  of  law.     Ueau-  will  leiid  them  our  aiisistanee,  if  the  liou.'-u 


254  CAUSES   OF  DECLINE        Chap.  IT.  Part  II. 

the  common  cause  against  all  aggressors,  and  this  obligation 
was  abundantly  fulfilled.  In  order  to  swell  their  numbers, 
it  became  the  practice  to  admit  all  who  came  to  reside  with- 
in their  walls  to  the  rights  of  burghership,  even  though  they 
were  villeins  appurtenant  to  the  soil  of  a  master  from  whom 
they  had  escaped.^  Others,  having  obtained  the  same  privi- 
leges, continued  to  dwell  in  the  country ;  but,  upon  any  dis- 
pute with  their  lords,  called  in  the  assistance  of  their 
community.  Philip  the  Fair,  erecting  certain  communes  in 
Languedoc,  gave  to  any  Avho  would  declare  on  oath  that  he 
was  aggrieved  by  the  lord  or  his  officers  the  right  of  being 
admitted  a  burgess  of  the  next  town,  upon  paying  one  mark 
of  silver  to  the  king,  and  purchasing  a  tenement  of  a  defi- 
nite value.  But  the  neglect  of  this  condition  and  several 
other  abuses  are  enumerated  in  an  instrument  of  Charles 
v.,  containing  the  complaints  made  by  the  nobility  and  rich 
ecclesiastics  of  the  neio-hborhood.^  In  his  reign  the  feudal 
independence  had  so  comjjletely  yielded,  that  the  court  be- 
gan to  give  in  to  a  new  policy,  which  was  ever  after  pur- 
sued ;  that  of  maintaining  the  dignity  and  privileges  of  the 
noble  class  against  those  attacks  which  wealth  and  liberty 
encouraged  the  plebeians  to  make  upon  them. 

The  maritime  towns  of  the  south   of  France 
towns  entered  into  separate  alliances  with  foreign  states  ; 

peculiarly  ^s  Narbonuc  with  Genoa  in  1166,  and  Montpel- 
lier  in  the  next  century.  At  the  death  of  Kay- 
be  too  strong  for  the  burgesses  to  pull  guedoc,  t.  iii.  p.  115.  The  territory  of  a 
down:  except  the  case  of  one  of  our  commune  was  called  Pax  (p.  185);  an 
vassals,   whose   house  shall  not  be   de-     expressive  word. 

stroyed ;  but  he  shall  not  be  allowed  to  i  One  of  the  most  remarkable  privi- 
enter  the  town  till  he  has  made  amends  leges  of  chartered  towns  was  that  of  con- 
at  the  discretion  of  the  mayor  and  jurats,  ferring  freedom  on  runaway  serfs,  if  they 
Ordonnances  des  Rois,  t.  xi.  p.  228.  This  were  not  reclaimed  by  their  masters  with- 
summary  process  could  only,  as  I  con-  in  a  certain  time.  This  was  a  pretty 
ceive,  be  employed  if  the  house  was  situ-  general  law.  Si  quis  nativus  quiete  per 
ated  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  com-  unum  annum  et  unum  diem  in  aliquSi 
mune.  See  Charter  of  Crespy,  id.  p.  253.  villa  privilegiata  manserit,  ita  quod  in 
In  other  cases  the  application  for  redress  eorum  communem  gyldam  tanciuam  civis 
was  to  be  made  in  tlie  first  instance  to  receptus  fuerit,  eo  ipso  i  villenagio  libe- 
♦  the  lord  of  the  territory  wherein  the  de-  rabitur.  Glanvil,  1.  v.  c.  5.  The  cities 
linquent  resided.  lUit  upon  his  failing  of  Languedoc  had  the  same  privilege, 
to  enforce  satisfaction,  the  mayor  and  Vai.ssette,  t.  iii.  p.  528,  530.  And  the 
jurats  might  satisfy  themselves  ;  liceat  editor  of  the  Ordonnances  speaks  of  it  as 
justitiam  quierere,  prout  poterunt ;  that  general,  p.  44.  A  similar  custom  was 
is,  might  pull  down  his  house  provided  establisiied  in  Germany  ;  but  the  term 
they  could.  Mably  positively  maintains  of  prescription  was,  in  some  places  at 
the  communes  to  have  had  the  right  of  least,  much  longer  than  a  year  and  a 
levying  war.  1.  iii.  c.  7.  And  Hrequigny  day.  Pfeffel,  t.  i.  p.  294. 
seems  to  coincide  with  him.  Ordonnan-  -  Marteune,  Thesaur.  Anecd.  t.  i.  p. 
ces,  preface,  p.  46;  see  also  Hist,  de  Lan-    1515. 


Feudal  System.      OF  THE  FEUDAL  SYSTEM.  2r».") 

moml  VIT..  Avignon,  Aries,  and  Marsoillos  aflTected  to  set  up 
rt'iuiltliean  govt-nnnents ;  but  they  were  soon  brought  into 
sulijeetion.^  The  iiuleiit-ndent  character  of  maritime  towns 
■\vjis  not  pecuhar  to  tliose  of  the  soutliern  provinces.  Ed- 
Avard  II.  and  Edwanl  III.  negotiated  and  entered  into  alli- 
ance!; with  the  towns  of  Flanders,  to  which  neither  their  count 
nor  the  king  of  France  were  i)arties.-  Even  so  late  as  the 
reign  of  Louis  XI.  the  duke  of  Burgundy  did  not  hesitate  to 
address  the  citizens  of  Kouen,  in  conseciuence  of  the  capture 
of  some  ships,  a.s  if  they  had  formed  an  independent  state.* 
This  e\-idently  arose  out  of  the  ancient  customs  of  private 
warfare,  wliich,  long  after  they  were  repressed  by  a  stricter 
police  at  home,  continued  with  lawh'ss  violence  on  the  ocean, 
and  gave  a  character  of  piracy  to  the  conmiercial  enterprise 
of  the  niiildh-  ages. 

Notwithstanding  the  forces  wliich  in  opposite   directions 
assailed  the  feudal  system  from  the  enhancement  jjiiitjirj' 
of   roval  nreroirative,   and   the   elevation  of  the  service  of 
chartered  towns,  its  resistance  would  have  been  tommts 
much  lonsrer,  Iiut  for  an  intrinsic  decav.     No  1)0-  "immi'te'i 

'^  1  •    1      1     '  .'^        for  uioui-y. 

litical  mstitution  can  endure  which  does  not  rivet 
itself  to  the  hearts  of  men  by  ancient  prejudice  or  acknowl- 
edged interest.  The  fir-udal  compact  luul  originally  much  of 
this  character.  Its  principle  of  vitality  was  warm  and  ac- 
tive. In  fultilling  the  obligations  of  mutual  assistance  and 
fidelity  by  military  service,  the  energies  of  friendship  were 
awakened,  and  tlie  ties  of  moral  symj)athy  superadded 
to  those  of  positive  coinijact.  "NN'hile  private  wars  were  at 
their  height,  the  connection  of  lord  and  vassal  grew  close  and 
cordial,  in  projiortiou  to  the  keenness  of  their  enmity  towards 
others.  It  wivs  not  the  object  of  a  baron  to  disgust  and  iui- 
poverisji  his  vavit-sors  by  enhancing  the  ])rofits  of  seigniory  ; 
for  there  was  no  rent  of  such  price  as  blood,  nor  any  labor 
so  serviceable  sus  that  of  the  sword. 

IJiit  the  nature  of  femhd  obligation  was  far  better  adapted 
to  the  p;u-tial  (juarrejs  of  neighboring  lords  than  to  the  wars 
of  kiMgdoui>.  Customs,  louudeil  upon  the  poverty  of  the 
-mailer  gentry,  li.id  limited  their  martial  duties  to  a  period 
never  e.xeeedin;:  forty  days,  and  (limiuishe(l  according  to  the 
ijubdivisioiis  of  the  lief.     They  could  undertake  an  expedi- 

«  Vc-11y.  t.  It.  p.  «n.  t.  T.  p.  97.  »  Oarnler,  t.  xvii.  p.  3fM. 

*  ll>iiiLT,  t.  It.  |>aj>i>lm. 


256  CAUSES   OF  DECLINE        Chap.  II.  Part  II. 

tion,  but  not  a  campaign ;  they  could  burn  an  open  toAvn,  but 
had  seldom  leisure  to  besiege  a  fortress.  Hence,  when  the 
kings  of  France  and  England  were  engaged  in  wars  Avhich, 
on  our  side  at  least,  might  be  termed  national,  the  inefficiency 
of  the  feudal  militia  became  evident.  It  was  not  easy  to 
employ  the  military  tenants  of  England  upon  the  frontiers 
of  Normandy  and  the  Isle  of  France,  within  the  limits  of 
their  term  of  service.  '^Vlien,  under  Henry  II.  and  Richard 
I.,  the  scene  of  war  was  frequently  transferred  to  the  Ga- 
ronne or  the  Charente,  this  was  still  more  impracticable. 
The  first  remedy  to  which  sovereigns  had  recourse  was  to 
keep  their  vassals  in  service  after  the  expu-ation  of  their 
forty  days,  at  a  stipulated  rate  of  pay.-^  But  this  was 
frequently  neither  convenient  to  the  tenant,  anxious  to 
return  back  to  his  household,  nor  to  the  king,  who  could  not 
readily  defray  the  charges  of  an  army.'^  Something  was  to 
be  devised  more  adequate  to  the  exigency,  though  less  suita- 
ble to  the  feudal  spirit.  By  the  feudal  law  the  fief  was,  in 
strictness,  forfeited  by  neglect  of  attendance  upon  the  lord's 
expedition.  A  milder  usage  introduced  a  fine,  which,  how- 
ever, was  generally  rather  heavy,  and  assessed  at  discretion. 
An  instance  of  this  kind  has  been  noticed  in  an  earlier  part 
of  the  present  chapter,  from  the  muster-roll  of  Philip  the 
Bold's  expedition  against  the  count  de  Foix.  The  first  Nor- 
man kings  of  England  made  these  amercements  very  oppres- 
sive. But  when  a  pecuniary  payment  became  the  regular 
course  of  redeeming  personal  service,  which,  under  the  name 
of  escuage,  may  be  referred  to  the  reign  of  Henry  II.,  it 
was  essential  to  liberty  that  the  military  tenant  should  not 
lie  at  the  mercy  of  the  crown.^  Accordingly,  one  of  the 
most  important  provisions  contained  in  the  Magna  Charta  of 
John  secures  the  assessment  of  escuage  in  parliament.  This 
is  not  renewed  in  the  charter  of  Henry  III.,  but  the  practice 
during  his  reign  was  conformable  to  its  spirit. 

The  feudal  military  tenures  had  superseded  that  earlier 

I  Du  Cange.  et  Carpentier,  toc.  Hostis.  guedoc.     At   that    of  Angers,  in  1230, 

-There    are    several    instances   wliere  nearly   the   same   thing  occurred.  —  M. 

amiies   broke   up,  at  the  expiration  of  Paris,  p.  308. 

their  limited  term  of  service,  in  conse-  3  JIadox,  Hist,  of  Exchequer,   c.  16, 

qucnce  of  disagreement  with  the  sover-  conceives   that  escuage   may  have  been 

eign.     Thus,  at  the  siege  of  Avignon  in  levied  by  Henry  I.;   the  earliest  mention 

1226,  Theobald  count  of  Champagne  re-  of   it,   however,  in  a  record,    is   under 

tired  \yith  his  troops,  that  he  might  not  Henry  II.  in  1159. —  Lyttelton's  Hist,  of 

promote  the  king's  designs  upon  Lan-  Henry  II.  vol.  iv.  p.  13. 


Feudal  System.      OF  THE  FEUDAL  SYSTEM. 


257 


system  of  puWic  dt'fence  which  called  upon  every  man,  and 
especially  every  landholder,  to  protect  his  country.^  The 
relations  of  a  vassal  canic  in  place  of  those  of  a  subject  and 
a  citizen.  This  was  the  revolution  of  the  ninth  century.  In 
the  twelfth  anil  thirteenth  another  innovation  ratlier  more 
jrraduallv  prevailed,  and  marks  the  third  period  in  ,,  , 
tlie  military  history  ot  Jiiurope.  JMercenary  troops  ofmoritnary 
were  snlistituted  tor  the  feudal  militia.  Undoubt-  *'"°°^*' 
edly  there  could  never  have  been  a  time  when  valor  was  not 
to  be  purchased  with  money  ;  nor  could  any  employment  of 
surplus  wealth  be  more  natural  either  to  the  ambitious  or  the 
weak.  But  we  cannot  expect  to  find  numerous  testimonies 
of  facts  of  this  descri]»tion.'-  In  public  national  history  I  am 
aware  of  no  instance  of  what  may  be  called  a  regular  army 
more  ancient  than  the  body-<ruards,  or  huscarles,  of  Canute 
the  Great.  These  select  troo[>s  amounted  to  six  thousand  men, 
on  whom  he  probably  relied  to  ensure  the  subjection  of  Eng- 


1  Kverv  citizen,  however  extensive 
may  W  his  privilege.'',  is  mituraljy  bound 
to  repel  invnsion.  A  roninion  risinj;  of 
the  people  in  arms,  thoiijrh  not  always 
the  most  convenient  nnole  of  resi.«tance, 
is  one  to  which  all  ^rovi-rnnients  have  a 
right  to  re.«ort.  Volunius.  says  Charles 
the  Bald,  utcujusounijue  nostrum  homo, 
In  cujuscunque  rejfno  sit.  cum  seniore 
8U0  in  ho<item,  vel  aliis  suis  utilitatilius 
perpit ;  ni«i  talis  n-jini  invjusio,  quum 
Lantwri  dicnnt  (quo<l  ahsit ).  acciilerit 
ut  omnis  populus  illius  rejniiadeam  re- 
pellendam  communiter  (K'rK^it.  Ilaluzii 
Capitularia.  t.  ii.  p.  44.  Tliis  very  ancient 
mention  of  the  Lan/iirrhr.  or  insurrec- 
tional militia,  sosiinially  called  forth  in 
the  present  age,   will    strike  the  reader. 

Tile  oMipition  of  bearing  arms  in  de- 
fensive warfan-  was  |)eculi;irly  incunilH-nt 
on  the  fre«-liolder  or  alodialist.  It  made 
part  of  the  trinoilii  necejisitas,  in  Eng- 
land, erronefjusly  confoumled  by  some 
wrilent  with  a  feudal  militury  tenure. 
But  when  these  latter  teiiurt-s  l>ecamc 
nearly  univenial.  the  original  principle* 
of  public  ilefence  wi-re  almost  obliterated, 
and  I  know  not  linw  far  hIikIIhI  pniprie- 
tont.  where  thev  exlsti-d.  wen-  called  upon 
for  „Tvi.  .•  Kliig<  did  not,  however,  al- 
»"  ■    »itli  such  aid  as  the  lower 

pi-  i  fUpply.    I»uis  the  Fat  call- 

ed out  llie  iiiililla  of  towns  and  (Mirishes 
und<T  Hi<-lr  prtestii.  wlio  marrlu-dat  their 
h<  ■  1  they  did  not  a<-turilly  coui- 

m  I  baltlf.      In  the  chartem  of 

In.  ■■!  I  ■!  .'i"i  which  towns  received  the 
DumlM-r  of   troopi  rcquire<l  wax  usually 

yor,.   I.  17 


expressed.  The.se  formed  the  infantry  of 
the  Fri'nch  armies,  perhaps  more  numer- 
ous than  formidable  to  an  enemy.  In 
the  war  of  the  sjime  prince  with  the  em- 
peror Henry  V.  all  the  population  of  the 
frontier  provinces  Wius  called  out  ;  for  the 
militia  of  the  counties  of  Rheims  and 
Clullons  is  said  to  have  amounted  to 
sixty  thousand  men.  Philip  IV.  sum- 
moned one  foot-solilier  for  every  twenty 
hearths  to  tjike  the  field  after  the  battle 
of  Courtrai.  (Daniel.Ilist.de  la  Mi  lice 
Fmn<;ai<e  :  Velly.  t.  iii.  p.  62,  t.  vii.  p. 
287.)  Commissions  of  array,  either  to 
call  out  the  whole  population,  or,  as  was 
more  common,  to  select  the  most  service- 
able by  forced  impressment,  occur  in 
English  records  from  the  reign  of  Edward 
I.  (Stuarfs  Viewof  Society,  p.  400);  and 
there  are  even  several  writs  directed  to 
the  bishops,  enjoining  them  to  cau.se  all 
ecclesiastical  persons  to  be  arrayed  and 
ariiieil  on  account  of  an  expected  in- 
vasion.—  Ilvnier,  t.  vi.  p.  726  (4(?  E.  111.), 
t.  vii.  p.  lt?2  (1  K.  II.),  and  t.  viii.  p.  270 
(311.  IV.) 

-  The  preface  to  the  eleventh  volume 
of  Uecueil  des  Historiens,  p.  2.32,  notices 
the  word  solidnrii,  for  hired  .soldiers,  im 
early  as  1(1.311.  It  was  jirobably  unusual 
at  that  time:  though  in  Roger  lloveden, 
Orili'ricu«  Vitalis.  and  other  writers  of 
the  twelfth  century,  it  occurs  not  very 
unfre(|uently.  We  may  pcrhajis  coiij(>c- 
turo  the  abbots,  an  both  the  richest  and 
the  most  defenceless,  to  have  be»'n  the 
first  who  availed  thcmselveB  of  merce- 
nary valor. 


258  CAUSES  OF  DECLINE   Chap.  II.  Part  II. 

land.  A  code  of  martial  law  compiled  for  their  regulation  is 
extant  in  substance  ;  and  they  are  reported  to  have  displayed 
a  military  spirit  of  mutual  union,  of  which  their  master  stood 
in  awe.^  Harold  II.  is  also  said  to  have  had  Danish  soldiei's 
in  pay.  But  the  most  eminent  example  of  a  mercenary  army 
is  that  by  whose  assistance  William  achieved  the  conquest 
of  England.  Historians  concur  in  representing  this  force  to 
have  consisted  of  sixty  thousand  men.  He  afterwards  hired 
soldiers  from  various  regions  to  resist  an  invasion  from 
Norway.  William  Rufus  pursued  the  same  course.  Hired 
troops  did  not,  however,  in  general  form  a  considerable 
portion  of  armies  till  the  wars  of  Henry  II.  and  Philip 
Augustus.  Each  of  these  mouarchs  took  into  pay  large 
bodies  of  mercenaries,  chiefly,  as  we  may  infer  from  their 
appellation  of  Braban^ons,  enlisted  from  the  Netherlands. 
These  were  always  disbanded  on  cessation  of  hostilities  ;  and, 
unfit  for  any  habits  but  of  idleness  and  license,  oppressed 
the  peasantry  and  i-avaged  the  country  without  control.  But 
their  soldier-like  principles  of  indiscriminate  obedience,  still 
more  than  their  courage  and  field-discipline,  rendered  them 
dear  to  kings,  who  dreaded  the  free  spirit  of  a  feudal  army. 
It  was  by  such  a  foreign  force  that  John  saw  himself  on  the 
point  of  abrogating  the  Great  Charter,  and  reduced  his 
barons  to  the  necessity  of  tendering  his  kingdom  to  a  prince 
of  France.^ 

It  now  became  manifest  that  the  probabilities  of  war 
inclined  to  the  party  who  could  take  the  field  with  selected 
and  experienced  soldiers.  The  command  of  money  was  the 
command  of  armed  hirelings,  more  sure  and  steady  in  battle,  as 

1  For  these  facts,  of  which  I  remember  They  were  distinguished  by  their  dress 
no  mention  in  English  history,  I  am  in-  and  golden  ornaments.  Their  manners 
debted  to  the  Danish  collection  of  Lan-  towards  each  other  were  regulated ;  quar- 
gebek,  Scriptores  Rerum  Danicarum  rels  and  abusive  words  subjected  to  a 
Medii  ^vi.  Though  the  Leges  Castrensis  penalty.  All  disputes,  even  respecting 
Canuti  Magni,  published  by  him,  t.  iii.  lands,  were  settled  among  themselves  at 
p.  141,  are  not  in  their  original  statutory  their  general  parliament.  A  singular 
form,  they  proceed  from  the  pen  of  story  is  told,  which,  if  false,  may  still 
Sweno,  the  earliest  Danish  historian,  who  illustrate  the  traditionary  character  of 
lived  under  Waldemar  I.,  less  than  a  these  guards  :  that,  Canute  having  killed 
century  and  a  half  after  Canute.  I  ap-  one  of  their  body  in  a  fit  of  anger,  it 
ply  the  word  huscarle,  familiar  in  Anglo-  was  debated  whether  the  king  should  in- 
Saxon  documents,  to  these  military  re-  cur  the  legal  penalty  of  death ;  and  this 
tainers,  on  the  authority  of  Langebek,  in  was  only  compromised  by  his  kneeling 
another  place,  t.  li.  p.  454.  The  object  of  on  a  cushion  before  the  assembly,  and 
Canute's  institutions  was  to  produce  an  awaiting  their  permission  to  rise.  T.  iii. 
uniformity  of  discipline  and  conduct  p.  150. 
among  his  soldiers,  and  thus  to  separate  2  Matt.  Paris, 
them  more  decidedly  from   the  people. 


Feudal  System.      OF  THE  FF.mAT.  SYSTEM.  2.59 

■we  must  confers  with  shame,  than  the  patriot  citizen.  Thoii'T-h 
the  nobility  still  coniposed  in  a  "rreat  degree  the  strenirth  of  an 
armv.  yet  they  served  in  a  new  eharaeter;  their  aniniatino- 
spirit  was  that  ot'cliivalrv  ratlier  than  of  feudal  tenure  ;  their 
connection  with  a  superior  was  personal  rather  than  territorial. 
The  crusades  had  prohaMy  a  material  tendency  to  effectuate 
this  revolution  liy  sulistitutinij:,  what  was  inevitable  in  those 
expeditions,  a  voluntary  stipendiary  service  for  one  of  abso- 
lute obliiration.*  It  is  the  opinion  of  Daniel  that  in  the  thir- 
teenth century  all  feudal  tenants  received  jiay,  even  during 
their  prescribed  term  of  service.^  This  does  not  appear  con- 
sonant to  the  law  of  tiefs ;  yet  their  poverty  may  often  have 
rendered  it  impossible  to  defray  the  cost  of  equipment  on 
distant  expeditions.  A  large  projwrtion  of  the  exjjcnse  must 
in  all  cases  have  fallen  upon  the  lord  ;  and  hence  that  per- 
petually increasing  taxation,  the  effects  whereof  we  have 
lately  been  investigating. 

A  feudal  army,  however,  composed  of  all  tenants  in  chief 
and  their  vas-als,  still  presented  a  formidable  array.  It  is 
very  long  before  the  paradox  is  generally  admitted  that 
numbers  do  not  necessaril}-  contribute  to  the  intrinsic  etH- 
ciency  of  armies.  Philip  IV.  assembled  a  great  force  by 
publishing  the  arrirr('-l)au.  or  feudal  summons,  for  his  un- 
happy expedition  against  the  Flemings.  A  small  and  more 
disciplined  body  of  troops  would  not,  probably,  have  met 
with  the  disc(imfiture  of  Courtray.  Edward  I.  and  Edward 
II.  tretjuently  called  upon  those  who  owed  military  service, 
in  their  invasions  of  Scotland.'  But  in  the  French  wars  of 
Edward  III.  the  whole,  I  think,  of  his  army  served  for  pay, 
and  was  raised  by  contract  with  men  of  rank  and  infliu-nce, 
who  received  wages  for  every  soldier  acc<jnling  to  his  station 
and  the  arms  he  bore.  The  rate  of  pay  was  so  remarkably 
liigli.  that,  unless  we  imagine  a  vast  profit  to  have  been 
intended  tor  the  contractors,  the  private  lancers  and  even 
archers  must    have   been  chiefly  taken  from  the  midtlling 

•  JoinTillp.   in   wT.Tftl   pMsnffpii.   inti-        «  Hist,  do  la   Milioe   Fnin^iiiso.  p.  81. 

matif*  tluit  mrwt  of  till- kiii^rlito  fcrriiii;  in  Tho    une  of  niercemiry    tmops  prcviiili'il 

Pt.   t/>'ii-'«  <Tiiwiilf  n-i-civiMl  pay,  i-illivr  raueli  in  (Jennany  during  tin- tliirtci'iitli 

fri'  -ii|MTior  lonl.  if  111-  were  on  century.     Hcliniiclt,  t.  iv.  p.89.    In  Italy 

til'  1.  or  from  nomr  oMiit.  into  it   yiun   nlno   very    coninion  ;  tli(iii(;li    itn 

wlj'—    ■■  r>i.-<-  (li<.y  i.|it<.r<N|  for  tlif  tliiic.  Kcnt-nil  iKloptioii  id  (<i  be   rcfiTrnl    to  tli»> 

H<-    iM-t    out    hIniM'lf   wldi    ten    l(iiii;litH,  couiiiiLMu'ciiii'iit  of  tlii>   sin-cciMlinjf  iij;o. 
whom    lie    ttflirwBr.|<    found   it    difflrult  >  Itynier,  t.  ill.  p.  17.3,  18'J,  I'M,  et  alibi 

enouirh     to    mnintnin.  — ColliH-tlon    dt'ii  stcpius. 
Meuioirfu,  t.  i.  p.  4'J,  and  t.  ii.  p.  (i3. 


260  CAUSES  OF  DECLINE       Chap.  II.  Part  II. 

classes,  the  smaller  gentry,  or  rich  yeomanry  of  England.-^ 
This  part  of  Edward's  military  system  was  probably  a  lead- 
ing cause  of  his  superiority  over  the  French,  among  whom 
the  feudal  tenantry  were  called  into  the  field,  and  swelled  their 
miwieldy  armies  at  Crecy  and  Poitiers.  Both  parties,  how- 
ever, in  this  war  employed  mercenary  troops.  Philip  had 
15,000  Italian  ci'ossbow-men  at  Crecy.  It  had  for  some  time 
before  become  the  trade  of  soldiers  of  fortune  to  enlist  under 
leaders  of  the  same  description  as  themselves  in  companies 
of  adventure,  passing  from  one  service  to  another,  uncon- 
cerned as  to  the  cause  in  which  they  were  retained.  These 
military  adventurers  played  a  more  remarkable  part  in  Italy 
than  in  France,  though  not  a  little  troublesome  to  the  latter 
country.  The  feudal  tenures  had  at  least  furnished  a  loyal 
native  militia,  whose  duties,  though  much  limited  in  the  ex- 
tent, were  defined  by  usage  and  enforced  by  principle.  They 
gave  place,  in  an  evil  hour  for  the  people  and  eventually  for 
sovereigns,  to  contracts  with  mutinous  hirelings,  generally 
strangers,  whose  valor  in  the  day  of  battle  inadequately  re- 
deemed their  bad  faith  and  vexatious  rapacity.  France,  in 
her  calamitous  period  under  Charles  VI.  and  Charles  VII., 
experienced  the  full  effects  of  military  licentiousness.  At  the 
expulsion  of  the  English,  robbery  and  disorder  w^ere  substi- 
tuted for  the  more  specious  plundering  of  war.  Perhaps  few 
Establish-  mcasurcs  have  ever  been  more  popular,  as  few 
ment  of  a  certainly  have  been  more  politic,  than  the  estab- 
force  by  hshment  of  regular  companies  of  troops  by  an  ordi- 
Chariesvii.  ^j^nce  of  Cliarlcs  VII.  in  1444.^  These  may  justly 
pass  for  the  earliest  institution  of  a  standing  army  in  Europe, 
though  some  Italian  princes  had  retained  troops  constantly  in 
their  pay,  but  prospectively  to  hostilities,  which  w^ere  seldom 

1  Many  proofs  of  this  may  be  adduced        2  The  estates  at  Orleans  in  1439  had 

from  Rymer's  Collection.     The  following  advised  this  measure,  as  is  recited  in  the 

is  from  Brady's  History  of  England,  vol.  preamble  of  the  ordinance.     Ordonnan- 

ii.  Appendix,  p.  86.     The  wages  allowed  ces  des  Rois,  t.  xii.  p.  312.     Sismondi  ob- 

by  contract  in  1346,  were  for  an  earl,  65.  serves  (vol.  xiii.  p.  3.52)  that  very  little  is 

8rf.  per  day ;  for  barons  and  bannerets,  to  be  found  in  historians  about  the  es- 

is.  ;  for  knights,  2s.  ;  for  squires,  Is.  ;  for  tabli.shment  of  these   compagnies   d'or- 

archers  and  hobelers  (light  cavalry),  Qrl.;  donnauce,   though  the   most   important 

for  archers  on  foot,  3/ ;  for  Welshmen,  event  in  the  reign  of  Charles  VII.     The 

2d.     The.se  sums  multiplied  by  about  24.  old  soldiers  of  fortune  who  pillaged  the 

to  bring  them  on  a  level  with  the  present  country  either  entered  into  these  com- 

■value  of  money  [1818],  will  show  the  pay  panics  "or  were  disbanded,  and  after  their 

to  have  been  extremely  high.     The  cav-  dispersion  were  readily  made  amenable 

airy    of  course,    furnished    themselves  to  the  law.    This  writer  is  exceedingly 

with  horses  and  equipments,  as  well  as  full  on  the  subject, 
arms,  which  were  very  expensive.      See 
too  Chap.  I.  p.  77,  of  this  volume. 


Feudal  System.     OF  THE  FEUDAL   SY^TK^r.  2GI 

long  intermitted.  Fifteen  companies  were  composed  each  of 
a  hundred  men  at  arm.*,  or  lancers  ;  and.  in  tlie  langiuige  of 
that  age,  the  wliole  body  was  one  thousanil  live  hundred 
lances.  But  each  lancer  had  three  archers,  a  coutiller,  or 
soldier  armed  with  ai  knite,  and  a  i)age  or  valet  attached  to 
him.  all  serving  on  hor^ehack  —  so  that  the  fifteen  companies 
amounted  to  nine  tliousand  cavalry.^  From  these  small  be- 
ginnings, as  they  must  appesir  in  modern  times,  arose  the 
regular  arinv  of  France,  which  every  succeeding  king  was 
sohcitous  to  augment.  Tlie  ban  was  sometimes  convoked, 
that  is,  the  possessors  of  tiefs  were  called  upon  for  military 
service  in  subsequent  ages  ;  but  with  more  of  ostentation  than 
real  etliciency. 

Tlie  feudal  compact,  thus  deprived  of  its  original  efficacy, 
soon  lost  the  respect  and  attachment  which  had  p^^j^y  ^j. 
attended  it.  Homage  and  investiture  V)ecame  un-  feudal 
meaning  ceremonies  ;  the  incidents  of  relief  and  "^"^ 
aid  were  felt  as  burdensome  exactions.  And  indeed  the 
rapacity  with  which  these  were  levied,  especially  by  our 
!Norman  sovereigns  and  their  barons,  was  of  itself  sutUcient  to 
extingui-h  all  the  generous  feelings  of  vassalage.  Thus 
galled,  as  it  were,  by  the  armor  which  he  was  compelled  to 
wear,  but  not  to  use.  the  military  t<'nant  of  England  looked 
no  longer  with  conteiiiiit  upon  the  owner  of  lands  in  socage, 
who  lield  his  estate  with  almost  the  immunities  of  an  alodial 
jiroprietor.  But  the  profits  which  tiie  crown  reaped  from 
wardships,  and  jicrliaps  the  prejudices  of  lawyers,  prevented 
tlie  abolition  of  military  tenures  till  the  restoration  of  Charles 
II.  In  France  the  fiefs  of  noblemen  were  very  unjustly 
exempted  from  all  territorial  taxation,  though  the  failles  of 
later  time»  had,  >trictly  speaking,  only  sui)erseded  the  aids  to 
which  they  had  been  always  liable.  The  distinction,  it  is  well 
known,  was  not  aiuiihilated  till  that  event  which  annihilated 
all  di.>tin<-tions,  the  French  revolution. 

It  is  remarkable  that,  although  the  feudal  system  established 
in  Kngland  upon  the  Conquest  broke  in  very  much  upon  our 
ancient  Saxon  liberties  —  though  it  was  aftende(l  with  harsher 
servilndr-s  than  in  any  other  country,  particularly  those  two 
iMtr)leral)le  bunlens,  wardship  and  marriage  —  yet  it  has  in 
genenil  b«.'en  treated  with  more  favor  by  English  than  I'lench 

I  Dnnlfl,  UUt.  dc  la  MiUco  Fran^;aUe,   p.  260 ;  VilUirct,  IliHt.  do  Franc..,   t.  xv. 
p.  3W. 


262  ADVANTAGES  AND  EVILS       Chap.  II.  Part  II. 

writers.  The  hardiness  with  which  the  ancient  barons  re- 
sisted theu'  sovereign,  and  the  noble  struggles  which  they 
made  for  civil  liberty,  especially  in  that  Great  Charter,  the 
basement  at  least,  if  not  the  foundation,  of  our  free  constitu- 
tion, have  met  with  a  kindred  sympathy  in  the  bosoms  of 
Englishmen ;  while,  from  an  opposite  feeling,  the  French 
have  been  shocked  at  that  aristocratic  independence  which 
cramped  the  prerogatives  and  obscured  the  lustre  of  their 
crown.  Yet  it  is  precisely  to  this  feudal  policy  that  France 
is  indebted  for  that  which  is  ever  dearest  to  her  children, 
their  national  splendor  and  power.  That  kingdom  would 
have  been  irretrievably  dismembered  in  the  tenth  century,  if 
the  laws  of  feudal  dependence  had  not  preserved  its  integrity. 
Empires  of  unwieldy  bulk,  like  that  of  Charlemagne,  have 
several  times  been  dissolved  by  the  usurpation  of  provincial 
governors,  as  is  recorded  both  in  ancient  history  and  in  that 
of  the  Mahometan  dynasties  in  the  East.  What  question  can 
there  be  that  the  powerful  dukes  of  Guienne  or  counts  of 
Toulouse  would  have  thrown  off  all  connection  with  the 
crown  of  France,  when  usurj^ed  by  one  of  their  equals,  if  the 
sliglit  dependence  of  vassalage  had  not  been  substituted  for 
legitimate  subjection  to  a  sovereign  ? 

It  is  the  previous  state  of  society,  under  the  grandchildi'en 
of  Charlemagne,  which  we  must  always  keep  in  mind,  if  we 
would  appreciate  the  effects  of  the  feudal  system  upon  the 
welfare  of  mankind.  The  institutions  of  the  eleventh  century 
must  be  compared  with  those  of  the  ninth,  not  with  the  ad- 
vanced civilization  of  modern  times.  If  the  view  that  I  have 
taken  of  those  dark  ages  is  correct,  the  state  of  anarchy 
which  we  usually  term  feudal  was  the  natural  result  of  a  vast 
and  barbarous  empire  feebly  administered,  and  the  cause 
rather  than  effect  of  the  general  establishment  of  feudal  ten- 
ures. These,  by  preserving  the  mutual  relations  of  the  whole, 
kept  alive  the  feeling  of  a  common  country  and  common 
duties,  and  settled,  after  the  lapse  of  ages,  into  the  free  con- 
stitution of  England,  the  firm  monarchy  of  France,  and  the 
federal  union  of  Germany. 

The  utility  of  any  form  of  polity  may  be  estimated  by  its 
effect  upon  national  greatness  and  security,  upon  civil  liberty 
and  private  rights,  upon  the  tranquillity  and  order  of  society, 
upon  the  increase  and  diffusion  of  wealth,  or  upon  the 
general  tone  of  moral  sentiment  and  energy;     The  feudal 


Fecdal  System.       OF  THE  FEUDAL   SYSTEM.  263 

constitution  was  certainly,  as  has  been  observed  General 
already,  little  ada|)ted  for  the  defence  of  a  iiiijrhty  of  the"* 
kinirdom,  far  less  tor  schenu's  of  conquest.     But  as  »Jvi'ntage8 

.,,,.,.  II-  •  and  evils 

It  pre\  adi'd  alike  in  several  adjacent  countries,  none  resuitiug 
had  aii}Thin«i  to  fear  from  the  military  superiority  f^„^J'*'* 
of  its  iiciirhburs.  It  was  this  inelHciency  of  the  system. 
feudal  militia,  |K'rhap.s,  that  saved  Europe  during  the  middle 
a^es  from  the  tlanger  of  universal  monarchy.  In  times  when 
princes  hail  little  notion  of  eoidl'deracies  for  mutual  protec- 
tion, it  is  hard  to  say  what  might  not  have  been  the  successes 
of  an  Otho  the  Great,  a  Fretleric  Barbarossa,  or  a  Philip 
Augustus,  if  they  could  have  wielded  the  whole  force  of  their 
subjects  whenever  tlieir  ambition  retpiired.  If  an  empire 
equally  extensive  with  that  of  Chailciiiagne,  and  supported  by 
military  despotism,  had  been  fornu'd  about  the  twelfth  or 
thirteenth  centuries,  the  sefd<  of  commerce  and  lil)erty,  just 
then  l)eginning  to  shoot,  would  have  perished,  and  Europe, 
reduced  to  a  barbarous  .servitude,  might  have  fallen  before 
the  free  l)arbarians  of  Tartary. 

If  we  look  at  the  feudal  jjolity  as  a  scheme  of  civil  free- 
dom, it  beai"s  a  noble  countenance.  To  the  feudal  law  it  is 
owing  that  the  very  names  of  right  and  pnvilege  were  not 
swept  awav,  a*  in  Asia,  bv  the  desolating  liand  of  power. 
The  tyranny  which,  on  every  tavorable  moment,  was  break- 
ing through  all  barriers,  would  have  rioted  without  control, 
if,  when  the  people  were  poor  and  disunited,  the  nobility  had 
not  been  bra\<'  and  free.  So  tar  as  the  sphere  of  feudality 
extended,  it  ditfu-ed  the  spirit  of  liberty  and  the  notions  of 
private  riglit.  Elvery  one  I  think  will  acknowledge  this  who 
considi-r-  the  limitations  of  the  services  of  vassalage,  so  cau- 
ti<ai«ly  markeil  in  tiiose  law-ltooks  which  are  the  records  of 
customs,  tiie  reciprocity  of  obligation  between  the  lord  and 
his  tenant,  the  consent  recpiircd  in  every  measure  of  a  legis- 
lative or  a  genenil  nature,  tiie  .security,  above  all,  which  every 
vas.sal  found  in  tlie  admini.-tration  of  ju.stice  by  his  peers,  and 
even  (we  may  in  this  sr^nse  .say)  in  the  trial  by  combat.  The 
bulk  of  the  jir'ople.  it  is  true,  were  degraded  by  servitude  ; 
but  this  had  no  connection  with  the  feudal  tenures. 

The  |K-Hce  and  good  older  of  society  were  not  promoted 
]>y  {\i\-*  -iysteMi.  Tiiough  private  wars  did  not  oiigiiiale  in 
the  feudal  cii-toin.s  it  is  impos.-iljle  to  doubt  that  they  wen; 
jK-rpetuated   by  «k»  convenient  an   institution,  which  indeed 


2G4  ADVANTAGES  AND  EVILS        Chap.  II.  Pakt  II, 

owed  its  universal  establisliment  to  no  other  cause.  And  as 
predominant  habits  of  warfare  are  totally  irreconcilable  with 
those  of  industry,  not  merely  by  the  immediate  works  of 
destruction  which  render  its  efforts  unavailing,  but  through 
that  contempt  of  peaceful  occupations  which  they  produce, 
the  feudal  system  must  have  been  intrinsically  adverse  to  the 
accumulation  of  wealth  and  the  improvement  of  those  arts 
which  mitigate  the  evils  or  abridge  the  labors  of  mankind. 

But  as  a  school  of  moral  discipline  the  feudal  institutions 
were  perhaps  most  to  be  valued.  Society  had  sunk,  for  sev- 
eral centuries  after  the  dissolution  of  the  Roman  empire, 
into  a  condition  of  utter  depravity,  where,  if  any  vices  could 
be  selected  as  more  eminently  characteristic  than  others, 
they  were  falsehood,  treachery,  and  ingratitude.  In  slowly 
purging  otF  the  lees  of  this  extreme  corruption,  the  feudal 
sjjirit  exerted  its  ameliorating  influence.  Violation  of  faith 
stood  first  in  the  catalogue  of  crimes,  most  repugnant  to  the 
very  essence  of  a  feudal  tenure,  most  severely  and  promptly 
avenged,  most  branded  by  general  infamy.  The  feudal 
law-books  breathe  tlu'oughout  a  spirit  of  honorable  obliga- 
tion. The  feudal  course  of  jurisdiction  promoted,  what  trial 
by  peers  is  peculiarly  calculated  to  promote,  a  keener  feeling 
and  readier  perception  of  moral  as  well  as  of  legal  distinc- 
tions. And  as  the  judgment  and  sympathy  of  mankind  are 
seldom  mistaken,  in  these  great  points  of  veracity  and  justice, 
except  through  the  temporary  success  of  crimes,  or  the  want 
of  a  definite  standard  of  right,  they  gradually  recovered 
themselves  when  law  precluded  the  one  and  supplied  the 
other.  In  the  reciprocal  services  of  lord  and  vassal  there 
was  ample  scope  for  every  magnanimous  and  disinterested 
energy.  The  heart  of  man,  when  placed  in  circumstances 
which  have  a  tendency  to  excite  them,  will  seldom  be  defi- 
cient in  such  sentiments.  No  occasions  could  be  more  favora- 
ble than  the  protection  of  a  faithful  supj^orter,  or  the  defence 
of  a  beneficent  suzerain,  against  such  powerful  aggression  as 
left  little  prospect  except  of  sharing  in  his  ruin. 

From  these  feelings  engendered  by  the  feudal  relation  has 
sprung  up  the  peculiar  sentiment  of  pei'sonal  reverence 
and  attachment  towards  a  sovei^ign  which  we  denominate 
loyalty ;  alike  distinguishable  from  the  stupid  devotion  of 
Eastern  slaves,  and  from  the  abstract  respect  with  which  free 
citizens  regard  their  chief  magisti-ate.     Men  who  had  been 


Fecd.u,  System.      OF  THE  FEUDAL  SYSTEM.  265 

used  to  swear  fealty,  to  profess;  subjection,  to  follow,  at  home 
anil  in  the  field,  a  feudal  superior  and  his  fmnily,  easily 
transferred  the  same  alk'jrianoo  to  the  monarch.  It  was  a 
very  powerful  feelinjr  which  could  make  the  bravest  men 
{)ut  up  with  slijifhts  and  ill-treatment  at  the  hands  of  their 
sovereiirii  ;  or  call  forth  all  the  encftrics  of  disinterested 
exertion  for  one  whom  they  never  saw,  and  in  whose  char- 
acter there  was  nothing  to  esteem.  In  ages  when  the  rights 
of  the  community  were  unfclt  this  sentiment  was  one  great 
preservative  of  society  ;  and,  though  collateral  or  even  sub- 
servient to  more  enlarged  principles,  it  is  still  indispensable 
to  the  tranipiillity  and  permanence  of  every  monarchy.  In  a 
moral  view  loyalty  has  scarcely  jierhaps  less  tendency  to 
rehne  and  elevate  the  heart  than  patriotism  itself;  and  holds 
a  middle  place  in  the  scale  of  human  motives,  as  they  ascend 
from  the  grosser  inducements  of  self-interest  to  the  further- 
ance of  general  happiness  and  conformity  to  the  purposes  of 
Infinite  Wisdom. 


266  STATE  OF  AIsrCIEoSTT  GEKMANY.  Notes  to 


NOTES  TO   CHAPTER  11. 


Note  I.     Page  149. 

It  is  almost  of  course  witli  the  investigators  of  Teutonic 
antiquities  to  rely  with  absolute  confidence  on  the  authority 
of  Tacitus,  in  his  treatise  '  De  Moribus  Germanorum.'  And 
it  is  indeed  a  noble  jiiece  of  eloquence  —  a  picture  of  man- 
ners so  boldly  drawn,  and,  what  is  more  to  the  purpose,  so 
probable  in  all  its  leading  characteristics,  that  we  never  hesi- 
tate, in  reading,  to  believe.  It  is  only  when  we  have  closed 
the  book  that  a  question  may  occur  to  our  minds,  whether 
the  Roman  writer,  who  had  never  crossed  the  Rhine,  was 
altogether  a  sufficient  witness  for  the  internal  history,  the 
social  institutions,  of  a  people  so  remote  and  so  dissimilar. 
But  though  the  sources  of  his  information  do  not  appear,  it 
is  manifest  that  they  were  copious.  His  geographical  details 
are  minute,  distinct,  and  generally  accurate.  Perhaps  in  no 
instance  have  his  representations  of  ancient  Germany  been 
falsified  by  direct  testimony,  if  in  a  few  circumstances  there 
may  be  reason  to  suspect  their  exact  faithfulness. 

In  the  very  slight  mention  of  German  institutions  which 
I  have  made  in  the  text  there  can  be  nothing  to  excite  doubt. 
They  are  what  Tacitus  might  easily  learn,  and  what,  in  fact, 
we  find  confirmed  by  other  writers.  But  when  he  comes  to 
a  more  exact  description  of  the  social  constitution,  and  of 
the  different  orders  of  men,  it  may  not  be  unreasonable  to 
receive  his  testimony  with  a  less  unhesitating  assent  than  has 
commonly  been  accorded  to  it.  A  sentence,  a  word  of 
Tacitus  has  passed  for  conclusive ;  and  no  theory  which  they 
contradict  would  be  admitted.  A  modern  writer,  however, 
has  justly  pointed  out  that  his  informers  might  easily  be 
deceived  about  the  social  institutions  of  the  tribes  beyond 
the  Rhine ;  and,  in  fact,  it  is  not  on  Tacitus  himself,  but  on 
these  unknown  authorities,  that  we  rely  for  the  fidelity  of 
his  representations.     We  may  readily  conceive,'1ay  our  own 


Chap.  U.  STATE  OF  ANCIENT  GERMANY.  267 

experience,  the  dillieulty  of  obtaining  a  clear  and  exact 
knowledge  of  laws,  customs,  and  manners  for  Nvhich  we  have 
no  cunf-|Hiiiding  analogies.  "  Let  us,"  says  Luden  to  his 
eountrvnu-n,  "ask  an  enlightened  Englishman  wliu  speaks 
German  concerning  the  jjolitieal  institutions  of  his  country, 
and  it  will  he  surprising  how  little  we  shall  understand  from 
him.  Ask  him  to  ex|)lain  wliat  is  a  free-man,  a  freeholder,  a 
copyholder,  or  a  yeoman,  and  we  shall  tind  how  hard  it  is  to 
malice  national  institutions  and  relations  intrlligi1)le  to  a  for- 
eigni'r."  (Luden,  Geschichte  des  Deutschen  N'olkes,  vol.  i. 
p.  7(12.) 

This  is  of  course  not  designed  to  undervalue  the  excellent 
work  of  TacitM-,  to  which  almost  exclusively  we  areindel)ted 
lor  any  ac(juaintance  with  the  progenitors  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxons  and  the  Franks,  but  to  point  out  a  general  principle, 
which  may  be  far  better  ai)plied  to  inferior  writers,  tliat  they 
give  a  color  of  their  own  country  to  their  descrii)tions  of 
foreign  manners,  and  especially  by  the  adoi)tion  of  names  only 
analogically  ajipropriate.  Thus  the  words  servus,  libertinus, 
I'nifenuus.  nobilis,  art'  not  necessarily  to  be  understood  in  a 
K(Mnan  sense  when  Tacitus  employs  them  in  his  treatise  on 
Germany.  Servus  is  in  Lathi  a  slave;  but  the  German 
descrilieil  l)y  him  under  that  name  is  the  lidiis,  subject  to  a 
lord,  and  liable  to  jiaymeiUs,  but  not  without  limit,  as  he 
himself  exiilains.  "  Frumenti  modum  dominus,  aut  pecoris, 
aut  vestis,  ut  colono,  iinperat ;  et  servus  haetenus  paret." 
Hen;  coUmns,  in  the  age  of  Tacitus,  was  as  much  a  wrong 
word  in  one  direction  as  servus  was  in  another.  For  we 
believe  that  the  culonus  of  early  Rome  was  a  tenant,  or 
farmer.  vieldLiig  rent,  but  al)solutely  a  free  man;*  though  in 
the  third  century,  after  barbarians  had  been  settled  on  lands 
in  the  empire,  we  tind  it  applied  to  a  semi-servile  condition. 
It  is  more  worthy  to  be  observed  that  his  account  of  the 
kinglv  oHice  among  the  Germans  is  not  quite  consistent. 
Sometimes  it  appears  as  if  peculiar  to  certain  tribes,  "iis 
gentibus  qu;e  regnaiUur  "  (c.  2."))  ;  and  here  he  seems  to  speak 
of  the  power  as  very  great,  opposing  it  to  liberty  ;  wliile  at 
other  times  w<-  are  IimI  to  .-uppose  an  aristocratic  senate  and 
an  ultimate  right  of  decision  in  the  people  at  large,  with  a 
very  limited  sovereign  at  the  head  (c.  7,  ll,»tc.).  This 
tnple   constitution  had  been   taken  by  IMontesquieu   ibr  the 

1  vide  Ksccloluti  Lexicon. 


268  PARTITION  OF  CONQUEEED  LANDS.        Notes  to 

foundation  of  our  own  in  the  well-known  words  —  "  Ce  beau 
systeme  a  ete  trouve  dans  les  bois." 

Note  II.     Page  150. 

It  is  not  ea-^y  to  exj^lain  these  partitions  made  by  the  bar- 
barous nations  on  their  settlement  in  the  emj)ire ;  and,  what 
would  be  still  more  remarkable  if  historians  were  not  so 
defective  in  that  age,  we  find  no  mention  of  such  partitions 
in  any  records,  excepting  their  own  laws  and  a  few  docu- 
ments of  the  same  class.  Montesquieu  says,  "  Ces  deux  tiers 
n'etaient  pas  que  dans  certains  quartiers  qu'on  leur  assigna." 
(1.  30,  c.  8).  Troja  seems  to  hold  the  same  opinion  as  to 
the  first  settlement  of  the  Burgundians  in  Gaul,  but  admits  a 
general  division  in  471 :  Storia  d'ltalia  nel  medio  evo  (iii. 
1293).  It  is  indeed  impossible  to  get  over  the  proof  of  such 
a  partition,  or  at  least  one  founded  on  a  general  law,  arising 
from  the  fifty-fourth  section  of  the  Burgundian  code  :  "  Eodem 
tempore  quo  populus  noster  mancipiorum  tertiam,  et  duas 
terrarum  partes  accepit."  This  code  was  promulgated  by 
Gundobald  early  in  the  sixth  century.  It  contains  several 
provisions  protecting  the  Roman  in  the  possession  of  his 
third  against  any  encroachment  of  the  hospes,  a  word  applied 
indifferently  to  both  parties,  as  in  common  Latin,  to  host  and 
guest. 

The  word  sortes,  which  occurs  both  with  the  Burgundians 
and  Visigoths,  has  often  been  referred  to  the  general  parti- 
tion, on  the  hypothesis  that  the  lands  had  been  distributed  by 
lot.  This  perhaps  has  no  evidence  except  the  erroneous 
inference  from  the  word  sors,  but  it  is  not  wholly  improbable. 
Savigny,  indeed,  observes  that  both  the  barbarian  and  the 
Roman  estates  were  called  sortes,  referring  to  Leges  Visi- 
gothorum,  lib.  x.  tit.  2,  1.  1,  where  we  find,  in  some  editions, 
"  sortes  Gothicte  vel  Romanae ; "  but  all  the  manuscripts, 
according  to  Bouquet,  read  "  sortes  Gothicae  et  tertia  Roman- 
oi-um,"  which,  of  course,  gives  a  contrary  sense.  (Rec.  des 
Hist.  iv.  430).-^     It  seems,  from  some  texts  of  the  Burgun- 

1  Procopius  fays,  of  the  division  made  an'  avTOV  KkrjpoL  'QavdiXuv  ol  aypol 

by  Genseric  in  Italy,  Ai/3uaf  tovc  al-  q{,tqi^  ^^  j^^g  nakovvrai  tov  xpovov. 

lovg   aipeilETO  jiiv  rovg   aypovg,  ol  ,  ,  ,  _  ^al  tu  fiiv  ^wpia  ^vjxnavTa  baa 

TzMaTOi.  TE  T/erav  /cat  upiaroi.,  eg  6e  jqi^  ^e  nalm  Kal  rolg  uXkotg  Bavdi- 

To  Tuv  Bavdiluv  SdveijiEV  E'&vog  •  koI  2x)ig  Ti^epLxog  Tvapadedux^i,  ovdefiiag 


Chjlp.  II.         P.VUTITIOX  OF  CONQUERED  LANDS.  209 

dian  law,  that  the  whole  territory  was  not  partitioned  at  once  ; 
bei-ause,  in  a  suppli-inent  to  the  code  not  iniieh  bi-forc  'r2(^, 
provision  i.s  made  lor  new  settlers,  who  were  to  reeei\e  only 
a  nioietv.  '*  De  Romanis  hoc  ordmavimu.'^,  ut  non  amplius  a 
Burgundioinbus  qni  intra  venernnt,  reqniratur,  quam,  nt 
pnesens  neecssitas  t'nerit.  nieillL'tas  tiMrie.  Alia  vero  medie- 
tas enm  inli-gritate  nianeipiorum  a  Romanis  teneatnr;  nee 
exinde  nllam  violentiam  patiantnr."  (Leges  Burgundionnm, 
AiMitaint-ntuin  8»rundiun,  e.  11.)  In  this,  as  in  the  whole 
Bingnn<lian  law,  we  pcrroiN e  a  tenderness  for  the  Roman 
inhaliitant,  and  a  eontinnal  desire  to  plaee  him,  as  far  as 
possible,  on  an  ef[ual  footing  with  his  new  neiglibor.  The 
reason  assigned  for  the  j)artition  is  neeessity  ;  the  Burgnndian 
mnst  live.  It  is  true  that  to  assign  him  two  thirds  of  the  land 
strikes  us  as  an  enormous  spoliation.  Montesquieu  supposes 
that  the  barbarian  took  open  and  pasture  lands,  leaving  the 
tilth  to  the  aneient  possessor,  and  that  this  aeeounts  for  the 
smaller  proportion  of  slaves  whieh  he  required  (1.  30,  c.  9). 
Sisinondi  has  made  a  similar  siigLr<'stion.  It  is  dwelt  n])on  by 
Troja.  that  the  Loml)ards,  taking  a  third  of  tlie  produce  in- 
stead of  a  [)ortion  of  the  lands  themselves,  reduced  all  the 
original  possessors  to  the  rank  of  tributaries.  In  none  of 
the  barbarous  kingdoms  was  the  Roman  of  so  low  a  status  as 
in  theirs.  But  it  maybe  said  that  the  ancient  law  of  nations, 
exercised  by  none  more  unsparingly  than  by  the  Romans 
them-elves  in  Italy.  eonfi<eated  the  whole  soil ;  that,  if  the 
Visigoths  and  Burguiulians  spared  one  third,  if  the  FraidiS 
left  some  R<jman  possessors,  this  was  an  indulgent  relaxation 
of  their  right.  And  this  would  be  an  excu.se  if  we  could  for 
a  moment  look  u|ioii  the  barlnirians  as  having  a  just  cause 
of  war.  The  contrary,  however,  is  mimifest  in  almost  every 
ca«e. 

M.  Faurii-1  thinks  it  probable  that  the  Franks  made,  likc^ 
the  other  barliariaiis,  a  partition,  more  or  less  regular,  of  llie 
liiiuian  lands  in  northern  France.  (Ilist.  de  la  (xaule 
Meridionale,  ii.  31.)  Guizot  takes  a  somewhat  ditferent 
view,  and  conceiv«'S  tliat  each  chief  took  what  best  suited 
him,  ami  lived  there  with  his  followers  about  him,     (Civilis 

^opov  uToywy^f  vnori'kTf  liu}jvaev  abRolutclj-  from  tlio  annloity  of  Afrjra  to 

en«/.-lH- Ik-llo  Viin.lnl.  I.  1.  c.  8.     ThU  Haul    It  U   imtunil   to  iiit.rinvt  K/J/poi 

p«*«i(Cr  Kl».-«  no  ronnniiHtlon  to  the  hy-  \i<lviU/MV  oiiJ  hortvs  Sulicif  in  tlie  Huuie 

j>..tli<-l«  of  a   iinrtilion   l.y   lot.    but    tlio  UiunutT. 
coutrery  ;  au'l  tliougli  we  caouot  roaiion 


270  PARTITION  OF  CONQUERED  LANDS.       Notes  to 

en  France,  Le9on  32.)  But  if  the  Franks  adopted  so  aris- 
tocratic a  division  as  to  throw  the  lands  which  they  occupied 
into  the  hands  of  a  few  jDroprietors,  they  must  liave  gone  on 
very  different  principles  from  the  other  nations,  among  whom 
we  should  infer,  from  their  laws,  a  much  greater  equality  to 
have  been  preserved.  It  seems,  howevei',  most  probable  on 
the  whole,  considering  the  silence  of  historians  and  laws,  that 
the  Franks  made  no  such  systematic  distribution  of  lands  as 
the  earlier  barbarians.  They  were,  perhaps,  less  numerous, 
and,  being  at  first  less  civilized,  would  feel  more  reluctance 
at  submitting  to  any  fixed  principle  of  appropriation.  That 
they  dispossessed  many  of  the  Roman  owners  on  the  right 
bank  of  the  Loire  cannot  well  be  doubted.  For,  though 
Raynouard,  who  treads  in  the  steps  of  Dubos,  denies  that 
they  took  any  but  fiscal  lands,  which  had  belonged  to  the 
imperial  domains  (Hist,  du  Droit  Municipal,  i.  256),  Franks 
were  surely  as  little  disposed,  and  as  little  able,  to  live  with- 
out lands  as  Burgundians,  and  they  were  a  rougher  people.^ 
Yet  both  with  respect  to  them  and  the  other  barbarians  Ave  may 
observe  that  the  spoliation  was  not  altogether  so  ruinous  as 
would  naturally  be  presumed.  In  consequence  of  the  long 
decline  and  depopulation  of  the  empire,  the  fruit  of  fiscal 
oppression,  of  frequent  invasion,  and  civil  wars,  we  may  add 
also  of  pestilences  and  unfavorable  seasons,  much  land  had 
gone  out  of  cultivation  in  Gaul ;  and  though  the  proportion 
taken  by  the  Goths  and  Burgundians  was  enormous,  they 
probably  occupied,  in  great  measure,  what  the  Roman  pro- 
prietor had  not  the  means  of  tilling. 

This  subject,  after  all,  is  by  no  means  clear  of  embarrass- 
ment, especially  as  regards  the  Visigothic  and  Burgundian 
partitions.  We  are  driven  to  suppose  a  dispersion  of  these 
conquering  nations  among  their  subjects,  each  man  living 
separately  on  his  sors,  contrary  to  the  policy  of  all  invaders  ; 
we  are,  apparently,  to  presume  an  equality  of  numbers  be- 
tween the  Roman  possessors  and  the  barbarians,  so  that  each 
should  have  his  own  hospes.  The  latter  hypothesis,  may, 
perhaps,  be  dispensed  with,  or  considerably  modified ;  but  I 
do  not  see  how  to  get  rid  of  the  former. 

I M.     Lehuerou     supposes     that     the  their  subsequent  acquisitions  would  be 

Franks,  who  served  the  empire  in  Gaul  at  the  expense  of  the  nations  which  they 

under  tlie  predecessors  of  CIotis,  had  re-  conquered.     (Instit.  Merov.  i.  237,  268.) 

ceived  lands  like  the  Burgundians  and  But  the   private  estates   of  the   Franks 

Visigoths  :  so  that  they  were  already  in  seem    to   have   been   principally   in   the 

a  great  measure  provided  for,  and  that  north  of  France. 


Chap.  II.  THE  S.KLIC  LXW.  271 


Note  III.     Page  152. 

The  Salic  law  exists  in  two  texts ;  one  purely  Latin,  of 
which  thfi-e  are  titu-en  manusoript:^ ;  the  other  miiigkHl  witli 
German  words,  of  which  there  are  three.     Most  have  con- 
sidered the  latter  to  he  the  onginal;  the  manuscripts  con- 
taininir  it  are  entitled  Lejr  Soliot  anfi(ji(issinia,  or  reftisd'or  ; 
the  olliers  generally  run.  Lex  Silica  rereittior,  or  emeiuhita. 
This  seems  to  create  a  presumption.     But  INI.  Wraida,  who 
puhlished   a   history  of  the   Salic   law  in    1.S08,  inclines  to 
think  the  pure  Latin  older  than  the  other.    INL  Guizot  adopts 
tiie   same   opinion   (Civilisation  en  France,  Lefon    9).     M. 
Wraida  refers  its  original  enactment  to  the  period  when  the 
Franks  were  still  on  the  left  hank  of  the  Rhine;  that  is.  long 
before  the  reign  of  Clovis.     And  this  seems  an  evident  in- 
ference from  what  is  sj\id  in  the  prologue  to  the  law,  written 
long  afterwards.      But  of  course  it   cainiot   ajii)ly  to  those 
passages  which  allude  to  the  lloinans  as  subjects,  or  to  Chris- 
tianitv.     31.  Guizot  is  of  opinion  that  it  bears  marks  of  an 
age  when  the  Franks  had  long  been  mingled  with  the  Roman 
l>opulation.     This  is  consistent  with  its  having  been  revised 
by  the  sons  of  Clovis,  Childcbert,  and  Clotaire,  as  is  asserted 
in  the  prologue.     One  manuscript  has  the  words  —  "  Hoc 
decretum  est  apud  regem  et  ])rincipes  ejus,  et  apnd  cinictum 
populum  Christianum  (pii  infni  regnum  I\Ierwingorum  con- 
sistunt."     Neither  Wraida  nor  Guizot  think  it  older  in  its 
present  text  than  the  seventh  century ;  and  as  Dagobert  L 
appears  in  the  prologue  a-;  one  reviser,  we  may  suppose  him 
to  be  the  king  nuMitioned  in  the  words  just  quoted.     It  is 
to  he  observed,  however,  that  two  later  writers,  M.  Pertz,  in 
"Monnmenta   fi<'rm;niia'    Ili-torica,"  and  M.   Pardessus.  in 
"Mem.  de  I'Acad.  des  Inscriptions,"  voL  xv.  (Nouvelle  Serie), 
liave  enten-d  anew  on  this  discussion,  and  do  not  agree  with 
M.  Wraida,  nor  wholly  with  each  other.     M.  Lehuerou  is 
clearly  of  opinion  that,  in  all  its  substance,  the  Salic  code  is 
to   be   refcrnd    to    Gennany  lor  its   biilhplace,  and   to   the 
iwri«xi  of   heathenism  for  its  date.      (Institutions  Merovin- 
giennes,  ji.  8.'5.) 

The  Ki|)uarian  Fmnks  Guizot,  with  some  apparent  rca- 
w)n,  takes  for  the  progenitors  of  the  Austrasians ;  the  Salian, 
of   the    Neustrians.     The    former  were  settled  on   the  lelt 


272  THE  SALIC  LAW.  Notes  to 

bank  of  the  Rhine,  as  Lceti,  or  defenders  of  the  frontier, 
under  the  empire.  These  tribes  were  united  under  one  gov- 
ernment through  the  assassination  of  Sigebert  at  Cologne,  in 
the  last  years  of  Clovis,  who  assumed  his  crown.  Such  a 
theory  might  tend  to  explain  the  subsequent  rivalry  of  these 
great  portions  of  the  Frank  monarchy,  though  it  is  hardly 
required  for  that  purpose.  The  Ripuarian  code  of  law  is  re- 
ferred by  Guizot  to  the  reign  of  Dagobert ;  Eccard,  however, 
had  conceived  it  to  have  been  compiled  under  Thierry,  the 
eldest  son  of  Clovis.  (Rec.  des.  Hist.  vol.  iv.)  It  may 
still  have  been  revised  by  Dagobert.  "  We  find  in  this," 
says  M.  Guizot,  "  more  of  the  Roman  law,  more  of  the  royal 
and  ecclesiastical  power ;  its  provisions  are  more  precise, 
more  extensive,  less  barbarous  ;  it  indicates  a  further  step  in 
the  transition  from  the  German  to  the  Roman  form  of  social 
life."     (Civil,  en  France,  Lecon  10.) 

The  Burgundian  law,  though  earlier  than  either  of  these 
in  their  recensions,  displays  a  far  more  advanced  state  of 
manners.  The  Burgundian  and  Roman  are  placed  on  the 
same  footing ;  more  is  borrowed  from  the  civil  law  ;  the 
royal  power  is  more  developed.  This  code  remained  in 
force  after  Chai-lemagne ;  but  Hincmar  says  that  few  contin- 
ued to  live  by  it.  In  the  Visigothic  laws  enacted  in  Spain, 
to  the  exclusion  of  the  Roman,  in  642,  all  the  barbarous  ele- 
ments have  disappeared  ;  it  is  the  work  of  the  clergy,  half 
ecclesiastical,  half  imperial. 

It  has  been  remarked  by  acute  writers,  Guizot  and  Troja, 
that  the  Salic  law  does  not  answer  the  purpose  of  a  code, 
being  silent  on  some  of  the  most  imj)ortant  regulations  of 
civil  society.  The  former  adds  that  we  often  read  of  mat- 
ters decided  "  secundum  legem  Salicam,"  concerning  which 
we  can  find  nothing  in  that  law.  He  presumes,  therefore, 
that  it  is  only  a  part  of  their  jurisprudence.  Troja  (Storia 
dTtalia  nel  medio  evo,  v.  8),  quoting  Buat  for  the  same  opin- 
ion, thinks  it  probable  that  the  Franks  made  use  of  the  Ro- 
man law  where  their  own  was  defective.  It  may  perhaps  be 
not  less  probable  than  either  h^qjothesis  that  the  judges  grad- 
ually introduced  principles  of  decision  which,  as  in  our  com- 
mon law,  acquired  the  force  of  legislative  enactment.  The 
rules  of  the  Salic  code  principally  relate  to  the  punishment 
or  compensation  of  crimes ;  and  the  same  wiU  be  found  in 
our  earliest  Anglo-Saxon  laws.     The  object  of  such  written 


Chap.  II.  r.OMAN  NATIVES  OF  GAUL.  273 

laws,  with  a  free  and  barbarous  people,  was  not  to  record 
their  usajres.  or  to  lav  down  rules  which  natural  ecjuit y  would 
iJUirirest  as  the  occ;Lsion  nii'rht  arise,  but  to  prevent  the  arbi- 
ti-arv  infliction  of  penalties.  Chapter  Ixii.,  '  On  Successions,' 
may  have  been  inserted  for  the  sake  of  the  novel  provision 
about  Salic  lands,  which  could  not  liave  formed  a  part  of  old 
Teutonic  customs. 

Note  IV.     Pajres  152,  153. 

The  position  of  the  former  inhabitants,  after  the  conrpiest 
of  Gaul  by  tlie  Bur<rundians.  tlie  Visigoths  and  the  Franks, 
both  relatively  to  the  new  monarchies  and  to  the  barbarian 
settlers  themselves,  is  a  question  of  high  im])ortance.  It  has, 
of  course,  engjiged  the  i)liilosophical  school  of  the  present 
day,  ami  has  led  to  much  diversity  of  hypotheses.  The 
extreme  poles  are  occupied,  one  by  iNI.  Kaynouard  in  his 
'  Hist,  du  Droit  Municipal,'  and  by  a  somewhat  earlier 
writi-r.  Sir  Francis  Palgrave,  who,  following  the  steps  of 
Duljos,  bring  the  two  nations,  conquerors  and  conquered, 
almost  to  an  equality,  as  the  common  subjects  of  a  sovereign 
who  had  assumed  the  prerogatives  of  a  Roman  emperor; 
and,  f>n  the  op])osite  side,  by  Signor  Troja,^  and  by  M. 
Thierry,  wlio  finds  no  closer  analogy  for  their  relative  condi- 
tions tlian  that  of  tiie  Greeks  and  Turks  in  the  days  that 
have  lately  gone  by.  "It  is  no  more  a  proof,"  he  contends, 
*' that  tlie  Roman  natives  were  treated  as  free,  because  a  few 
might  gain  the  favor  of  a  desjjotic  court,  than  that  the  Chris- 
tian and  Jew  stand  on  an  even  focjling  with  the  Mussulman, 
because  an  Eastern  Sultan  mav  find  his  advantage  in  em- 
ploying  >ome  of  either  religion."  (Lettres  sur  I'llist.  de 
Fnince,  Lett,  vii.)  This  is  not  (piite  consistent  with  his  lan- 
guagi"  in  a  later  work  :  "  Sons  le  regne  de  la  premiere  race 
se  niontrent  deux  comlitions  de  libertii  :  la  liberte  par  excel- 
lence, qui  est  la  condition  du  Franc;  et  la  liberte  du  second 
ordre,  le  droit  de  cite  roinaine."  (Recits  des  Temps  Mero- 
vingiens,  i.  212. — IJruxelles,  1840.) 

•  Ijs  ftoria  ill  Frnnria  witto  I  rfe  delta  TliU  Is   not  liornp  out  l)y  history.     Wo 

prinis  rn/./ji  pii<.  .lln>l  iion  rnnniiitiTi-  rlip  fiml  no  opprossioii  of  Koiimnx  l>y  Krnnk«, 

n<vll  ••■wiiipj  ili'lli-iippn-uloiii  i|i.' Krnnclii  tliou({h    niucli    liy    Fniiik    kiiiifH.      The 

luiprn  i  rttlii'lhil  Koinniil. «  delln  )(<'Mfn)Wi  roniincrom  niiiy  liavc  Ihtii  natimially  In- 

prntrzi'>i)i.d<-' vuu-ovlo  IliiinjuiloKranrlil.  noli-ut;  but  thi«  in  uot  rt'corji'd. 
(Hlorift   d    IlAlia.  »ol.  I    l-nrt  ».  p.  421.) 
Vol..    I.                          18 


274  ROMAN  NATIVES   OF  GAUL.  Notes  to 

It  is,  however,  as  it  seems  to  me,  and  as  the  French  writ- 
ers have  generally  held,  impossible  to  maintain  either  of 
these  theories.  The  Roman  "  conviva  regis  "  (by  which  we 
may  perhaps  better  understand  one  who  had  been  actually 
admitted  to  the  royal  table,  thus  bearing  an  analogy  to  the 
Frank  Antrustion,  than  what  I  have  said  in  the  text,  one  of 
a  rank  not  unworthy  of  such  an  honor) -^  was  estimated  in  his 
weregild  at  half  the  price  of  the  Barbarian  Antrustion,  the 
highest  known  class  at  the  Merovingian  court,  and  above  the 
common  alodial  proprietor.  But  between  two  such  land- 
holders the  same  proportion  subsisted  ;  the  Frank  was  val- 
ued twice  as  high  as  the  Roman ;  but  the  Roman  proprietor 
was  set  more  than  as  much  above  the  tributary,  or  semi- 
servile  husbandman,  whose  nation  is  not  distinguished  by  the 
letter  of  the  Salic  code.  We  have,  therefore,  in  this  no- 
torious distinction,  subordination  without  servitude ;  exactly 
what  the  circumstances  of  the  conquest,  and  the  general  rela- 
tion of  the  bju'barians  to  the  empire,  would  lead  us  to  antici- 
pate, and  what  our  historical  records  unequivocally  confirm. 
The  oppression  of  the  people,  which  Thierry  infers  from  the 
history  of  Gregory  of  Tours,  under  Gontran  and  Chilperic, 
was  on  the  part  of  violent  and  arbitrary  princes,  not  of  the 
Frank  nation  ;  nor  did  the  latter  by  any  means  escape  it.  It 
is  true  that  the  civil  wars  of  the  early  Merovingian  kings 
were  most  disastrous,  especially  in  Aquitaine,  and  of  course 
the  native  inhabitants  suffered  most ;  yet  this  is  very  distin- 
guishable from  a  permanent  condition  of  servitude. 

"  The  Romans,"  Sir  F.  Palgrave  has  said,  "  retained  their 
own  laws.  Their  municipal  administration  was  not  abrogated 
or  subverted ;  and  wherever  a  Roman  population  subsisted, 
the  barbai'ian  king  was  entitled  to  command  them  with  the 
prerogatives  that  had  belonged  to  the  Roman  emperors." 
(Rise  and  Progress  of  the  English  Commonwealth,  vol.  i.  p. 
362.)  In  this  I  demur  only  to  the  word  entitled,  which  seems 
designed  to  imply  something  more  than  the  right  of  the  sword. 
But  this  is  the  right,  and  I  can  discern  no  real  evidence  of 
any  other,  which  Clovis,  and  Clotaire,  and  Chilperic  exer- 
cised ;  very  like,  of  course,  to  the  prerogatives  of  the  Roman 
emperors,  since  one  despotism  must  be  akin  to  another ;  and 

1  I  flo  not  give  tliis  as  very  highly    senatorial  families,  who  evidently  made  a 
probable:    rnnviva  regis  seems  an   odd    noble  class  among  the  Romans, 
phrase  ;  but  it  may  have  included  all  the 


Cn.vr.  n.  ROiUX  XATIVES  OF  GAFL.  275 

a  provincial  of  Gaul,  wlio-;e  ancestors  had  for  centuries 
obeyed  an  ludiniited  monarch,  could  not  claim  any  Ixttcr 
privilffrt'-;  bv  becoininjr  the  subject  of  a  conqueror.  It  is 
universally  agreed,  at  least  I  appreliend  so,  that  the  Roman, 
as  a  mere  possessor,  and  independently  of  any  personal  dig- 
nitv  with  which  he  might  have  been  honored,  did  not  attend 
the  national  as-;emblic-:  in  the  Field  of  March;  nor  had  he 
anv  bu-iness  at  tin-  phirifmn  or  iiiaJlus  of  the  count  among 
till'  llacliimbnrgii,  or  freeholders,  wlio  there  determined 
causes  according  to  their  own  jurisprudence,  and  transacted 
other  business  relating  to  their  own  nation.  The  kings  were 
always  styled  merely  "  Reges  Francorum  : "  ^  whenever,  in 
Gregory  of  Tours'  history,  the  poj)ular  will  is  expressed,  it 
is  by  the  Franks;  no  other  nation  separately,  nor  the  Franks 
a.s  blended  with  anv  other  nation,  appear  in  his  pages  to  have 
acted  for  themselves. 

It  must  be  almost  unnecessary  to  remind  the  reader  that 
the  word  Roman  is  uniforndy  a|)|»lied,  especially  in  the  bar- 
barian laws,  to  the  Gaulish  subjects  of  the  empire,  whose 
allegiance  had  been  transferre<l,  more  or  less  reluctantly,  but 
always  through  contpiest,  to  the  three  barbarian  monarchies, 
two  of  which  were  ultimately  subverted  by  the  Franks.  But 
it  is  only  in  two  senses  that  this  can  be  reckoned  a  ])roper 
appellation  ;  one.  ina-mueh  as  privileges  of  Roman  citizen- 
ship liad  lieen  extended  to  tiie  whole  of  Gaul  by  the  emper- 
ors; and  another,  as  applicable,  with  more  correctness,  to 
that  population  of  Roman  or  Italian  descent  which  had 
gradually  >ettled  in  the  cities.  This,  during  so  many  ages, 
must  have  become  not  inconsideral)le ;  the  long  continuance 
of  the  same  legions  in  the  province,  the  wealth  and  luxury 
of  manv  cities,  the  comparative  security,  up  to  the  close  of 
the  fourth  century,  from  military  revolution  and  civil  war, 
the  fat'ility,  perhaps,  of  jmrchasing  lands,  would  natiiially 
create  a  re-ipect;il)Ie  cla*-,  to  who^e  highlv  civilized  manners 
the  rec<irds  of  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries  especially  Itear 
wilnesft.*     Tiie  Latin  language  became  universal  in  cities; 

•  One  liKtanco  of  nn   appnivnt  oxeep-  cimrtor  dcsorvos  to  bo  ronsiiJiTcl.      Hut, 

tioii.  for  IcikIIiik  iiic  to  whir h   I  niii   in-  BuiipoHiiij^  it  to  ho  KPiiuiiic,  it  ilm'ii  not  go 

(lftitf<l  to   Mr.  SiMMuc  (Ijiwn  of  Europe,  a  (fniit  way  towanlH  the  iiiiporial  Htylo. 

p. 'i4<i).  Iiiui  iiic-t   my  .-VM.     Dii«otM-rt   I.  -  Snlviiiii,   in    tlio    nii>lille  of   thi'  fifth 

ci»11j<  liiniM'If.  In  an  in«truiniMit  fouml  In  century.    Ji>«riint«  on    Uio    Ix-iiutli-H    of 

Vita    ll<-atl    Mnrtliil.    ripucl    DuflicKin'.  i.  Ac|iiil.'i"iiic  :  "  Ailco  illic  oniiii-  ii.lnni.luni 

WCt.  ••  Ki'Jt  Kriii'oruni  i-t  pninili  Hmiuini  ri'ifin  nut  infcrloxtii  viiiciK,  nut  llorulcntn 

pnncr/ii  ''       Th-     nutlii'ntli'ity     of     tliix  prutin,  nut  distinctii cult urid,  nut  i-oufittt 


276  ROMAN  NATIVES   OF   GAUL.  Notes  to 

and  if  in  countiy  villages  some  remains  of  the  Celtic  might 
linger,  they  have  left  very  few  traces  behind. 

Sismondi  has  indeed  gone  mnch  too  far  when  he  infers,  es- 
pecially from  this  disuse  of  the  old  language,  an  almost  com- 
plete extinction  of  the  Gauhsh  population.     And  for  this  he 
accounts  by  their  reduction  to  servitude,  by  the  exactions  of 
their  new  lords,  and  the  facility  of  purchasing  slaves  in  the 
markets  of   the   empire  (vol.   i.   p.  84).     But  such  a  train 
of  events  is  wholly  without  evidence  ;  without  at  least  any 
evidence  that  has  been  alleged.     We  do  not  know  that  the 
peasantry  were  ever  proprietors  of  the  soil  which  they  culti- 
vated before  the  Roman  invasion,  but  may  much  rather  be- 
lieve the  contrary  from  the  language  of   Cassar  — ''  Plebs 
paene  servorum  habetur  loco."     We  do  not  know  that  they 
fell  into  a  worse  condition  afterwards.     We  do  not  know  that 
they  were  oppressed  in  a  greater  degree  than  other  subjects 
of  Rome,  not  surely  so  as  to  extinguish  the  population.     We 
may  believe  that  slaves  were  occasionally  purchased,  accord- 
ing to  the  usage  of  the  empire,  without  denying  the  existence 
of  coloni,  indigenous  and  personally  free,  of  whom  the  Theo- 
dosiau  code  is  so  full.     Nor  is  it  evident  why  even  serfs  may 
not  have  been  of  native  as  easily  as  of  foreign  origin.     All 
this  is  presumed  by  Sismondi,  because  the  Latin  language, 
and  not  the  Celtic,  is  the  basis  of  French.     And  a  similar 
hypothesis  must,  by  parity  of  reasoning,  be  applied  to  the 
condition  of  Spain  during  the  centuries  of  Roman  dominion. 
But  it  is  assumed  the  more  readily,  through  the  tendency  of 
this  eminent  writer  to  place  in  the  worst  light,  what  seldom  can 
be  placed  in  a  very  favorable  one,  the  social  institutions  and 
usages  of  mankind.     The  chano;e  of  lano;ua":e  is  no  doubt 
remarkable.     But  we  may  be  deceived  by  laying  too  much 
stress  on  this  single  circumstance  in  tracing  the   history  of 
nations.     It  is  very  difficult  to  lay  down  a  rule  as  to  the  ten- 
dency of  one  language  to  gain  ground  upon  another.     Some 
appear  in  their  nature  to  be  aggressive  ;  such  is  the  Latin, 
and  probably  the  Ai-abic.     But  why  is  it  that  so  much  of  the 
Walachian  language,  and  even  its  syntax,^  comes  from  Latin, 
in  consequence  of  a  merely  military  occupation,  while  a  more 

pomis,  ant  amoenata  lucis,  aut  irrigata  ginem   possedisse  videantur."     (De  Gu- 

fontibus,  aut  interfusa  tiuminibua,   aut  bernat.  Dei.  lib.  vii.  p.  299,  edit.  1(U1.) 

circumdata  messibus  erat,  ut  vere   po.s-  i  Vid.   Lauriani    Tentameu   Criticum 

sessores   et  domiui  terra?  illius  non  tarn  iu  linguam  Walachicam.     Vienn.  1840. 
soli  illius  portiouem  quam  paradisi  ima- 


Chap.  II.  ROMAN   NATIVES   OF  GAUL.  277 

lasting  j)O>!S0?sion  of  Britnin  (where  flouri.-jliing  colonics  were 
tilled  with  Konuui  inhnhiiants,  and  the  natives  horrowt'd  in 
.>;onie  dv-gree  the  arts  and  manners  ot"  their  eontincrors,  eon- 
nt'c-ted  witli  liit'in  al>o  \>y  religion  in  the  latter  i)art  of  thfir 
doiniiiiun)  did  not  iiinder  the  preservation  of  the  original 
Cehio  idiom  in  Walf».  with  very  sliglit  infusion  of  Latin  ? 
Why  is  it  that  iinuiinerable  Arabic  words,  and  even  some 
Arabic  sounds  of  letters,  are  found  in  the  Castilian  language, 
the  language  of  a  people  foreign  and  hostile,  while  seareely 
a  trace  is  left  of  the  \'isigothic  tongue,  that  of  their  fathers  ; 
so  that  for  one  word,  it  is  said,  of  Teutonic  origin  remaining 
in  Spain,  there  are  ten  in  Italy,  and  a  hundred  in  France  ?  ^ 
If  we  were  to  take  Sismondi  literallv.  the  l)arbariaiis  must 
have  lound  nothing  in  Gaul  but  a  Roman  or  Komanized 
aristocracy,  surromuled  by  slaves  ;  and  these  as  much  import- 
ed, or  the  ortspring  of  importation,  as  the  Negroes  in  Ameri- 
ca. This  is  ratlier  a  iunniliating  origin,  an  illud  quod  Ulcere 
nolo,  for  the  French  nation.  For  it  is  the  French  nation 
that  is  descended  from  tiie  inhabitantjij  of  Gaid  at  the  epoch 
of  the  barbarian  coiupiest. 

We  have,  however,  a  strong  ethnographical  argument 
against  this  imaginary  depopulation,  in  the  national  charac- 
teristics of  the  French.  A  liriiliant  and  ingenious  writer 
has  well  called  our  att<'ntioii  to  llic  Celtic  element,  that  under 
all  the  modifications  which  difference  of  race,  political  con- 
stitutions, and  tiie  stealthy  progress  of  commerce  and  learn- 
ing have  brought  in,  still  distinguislics  the  Frenchman  :  '*  La 
ba.se  originaire,  celle  (pii  a  tout  ret^u,  tout  accepte,  c'est  cette 
jeune  molle  et  mobile  race  de  Gaels,  brillante,  sensuelle,  et 
legere.  prom|ite  ;i  appreiidre.  pidiiipte  a  di'daignei-,  avide  des 
choscs  nouvelles.  \ Dilii  felcmeut  primilit,  ielement  perfecti- 
ble." (Miciielet,  Hist,  de  France,  i.  loG.)  This  is  very  good, 
and  we  cannot  but  see  tlie  resemblance  to  tiie  Celtic  chararter. 
Miehelet  goes  afterward^  too  far,  and  endeavors  to  show  that  a 
great  part  of  tiie  Freneii  language  is  Celtic  ;  failing  wliolly  in  liis 
(piotations  from  early  writers,  which  either  rehite  to  tlie  peri- 
o<l  immediately  siili-ecpient  to  the  Roman  comiuest,  or  to  the 
liiif/iiii  Jiuniiinit  ni.sti'rii  whi(!h  iihiiiialelv  bee.iiiie  I'rench.  It 
i-  nevertiicless  true  that  a  certain  iiumlMi-  of  C'eiiii-  words 
liave  lii-eii  relaiuetl  ill  French,  as  has  in-eii  shown  cMnof 
Vi-iL'otMe  b\  ^r.  Fauriel.  He  lijus  found  u,U<)(t  wnnU  in 
'  iiJIiib.  KevU-w,  vol.  xxxi.  p.  109. 


278  EOMAN  NATIVES  OF  GAUL.  Notes  to 

Provencal,  which  are  not  Latin.  All  of  these  which  ai-e  not 
Gothic,  Iberian,  Greek,  or  Arabic,  may  be  reckoned  Celtic ; 
and  though  the  former  languages  can  have  left  few  traces  in 
northern  French,  we  may  presume  the  last  to  have  been  re 
tained  in  a  scarcely  less  degree  than  in  the  Provenpal  dia- 
lect. (Ampere,  Hist.  Litt.  de  la  France,  vol.  i.  p.  34.) 
Many  French  monosyllables  are  Celtic.  But  if  we  tiy  to 
read  any  French  of  the  twelfth  century,  we  shall  feel  no 
doubt  that  a  vast  majority  of  words  are  derived  from  the 
Latin  ;  and  it  may  be  added  that  the  terms  of  rural  occupa- 
tion, and  generally  of  animals,  are  full  as  much  Latin  as 
those  more  familiar  in  towns. 

The  cities  of  Gaul  were  occupied  probably  by  a  more 
mingled  population  than  the  villages.  In  the  cities  dwelt  the 
more  ancient  and  wealthy  families,  called  senators,  and  dis- 
tinct, as  far  as  we  can  see  our  way  in  a  very  perplexed  in- 
quiry, from  the  ordinary  curiales,  or  decurions.  It  is  ti'ue 
that  these  also  are  sometimes  called  senators ;  but  the  word 
has  not,  as  Guizot  observes  (Collect,  des  Memoires,  i.  247), 
in  Gregory  and  other  writers,  a  precise  sense.  Families 
were  often  elevated  to  the  senatorial  rank  by  the  emperors, 
which  gave  their  members  the  title  of  clarissimi  ;  and  these 
were  probably  meant  by  Gregory,  in  the  expression  e  primis 
GaUiarunt,  senatoribus,  which  naturally  must  be  rendered  — 
''  of  the  first  Gaulish  nobility."  The  word  is  several  times 
employed  by  him  in  what  seems  the  same  sense.  It  is,  how- 
ever, also  used,  as  Guizot  and  Raynouard  think,  for  the  high- 
est class  of  curiales  who  had  served  municipal  offices.  But 
more  will  be  said  of  this  in  another  note. 

Sismondi  has  remarked  (i.  198)  that  in  the  lives  of  the 
saints,  during  the  Merovingian  period,  most  part  of  whom 
were  of  Roman  descent,  it  is  generally  mentioned  that  they 
were  of  good  family.  Tlie  Church  alforded  the  means  of 
preserving  their  respectability ;  and  thus  (without  much 
weight  in  the  monarchy,  and  often  with  diminished  patrimo- 
ny, l)ut  in  return  less  oppressed  by  taxation  than  under  the 
imperial  tisc,  deriving  also  a  reflected  importance  from  the 
bishop  wlien  he  was  a  Roman,  and  sheltered  by  his  protec- 
tion) this  class  of  the  native  inhabitants  held  not  only  a  free 
but  an  honorable  position.  Yet  this  was  still  secondary.  In 
a  free  commonwealth  the  exclusion  from  political  rights,  by  a 
broad  line  of  legal  separation,  brings  with  it  an  indelible 


Chap.  IF.  KO\LVN  NATIVES   OF  GAUL.  279 

sense  of  inferiority.  But  this  inferiority  is  not  allowed  by 
all  our  in(iuirer>. 

"The  nation-:  who  were  unequal  l>efore  the  law  soon  be- 
eaine  ec^ual  before  tlie  sovereign,  if  not  in  theory  yet  in 
l)ractice ;  and  the  ehildren  of  the  companions  of  Clovis  were 
subjected,  with  few  and  not  very  material  exceptions,  to  the 
same  positive  dominion  as  the  descendants  of  the  proconsul 
or  the  senator.  It  is  not  ditlicult  to  form  plausible  conjec- 
tures concerning  the  causes  of  this  equalization  ;  nor  are  the 
means  by  whicli  it  was  ctfected  entirely  coneealed.  Consid- 
ered in  relation  to  the  Romans,  the  Franks,  for  we  will  con- 
tinue to  instance  them,  constituted  a  distinct  state,  but, 
comjiared  to  the  Ivunans,  a  very  small  one ;  and  the  indi- 
viduals composing  it,  disi)ersed  over  Gaul,  were  almost  lost 
among  the  tril)utaries.  Experience  has  shown  that  whenever 
a  lesser  or  jMjorer  dominion  is  conjoined,  in  the  person  of  the 
same  sovereign,  to  a  greater  or  more  opulent  one,  the  minuter 
ma-is  is  always  in  the  end  subjugated  Ity  the  larger."  (Rise 
and  Progress  of  the  English  Commonwealth,  vol.  i.  p.  3()3.) 

Such  is,  in  a  few  wi)rils,  the  view  taken  of  the  3Ierovingian 
history  by  a  very  learned  writer.  Sir  F.  Palgrave.  And, 
doubtless,  the  concluding  observation  is  just,  in  the  terms 
wiierein  he  expresses  it.  But  there  seems  a  fallacy  in  apply- 
ing the  word  "  poorer"  to  the  Franks,  or  any  barbarian  con- 
querors of  Gaul.  They  were  jioorer  before  their  con([uest ; 
they  were  richer  afterwards.  At  the  battle  of  Flastings  the 
balance  of  weallli  was,  I  doubt  not,  on  the  side  of  Harold  more 
than  of  William ;  l>ut  twenty  years  afterwards  Domesday 
Book  tells  us  a  very  different  story.  If  an  allotment  was 
niaile  among  tiie  Franks,  or  if  they  served  themselves  to  land 
without  any  allotment,  on  either  hypothesis  they  became  the 
great  jn-oprietors  of  nortiiern  France  ;  and  on  whom  else  did 
the  beneficiary  donations,  the  rewards  of  faithful  Antrustions, 
generally  devolve?  It  is  jierfeetly  consistent  with  tlie  national 
superiority  of  tlie  Franks  in  the  sixlh  and  seventh  centuries 
that  in  tiie  la-t  age  of  the  Carlovingian  line,  when  the  dis- 
tinetion  of  law-  iiad  been  aboli.-hed  or  disused,  the  more 
ninni-roiis  people  ^hoidd  in  many  provinces  have  (not.  a-i  Sir 
Francis  Palgrave  calls  it,  subjugated  but)  absorl»ed  the  oilier. 
We  find  thi-  to  have  Iwen  the  ca.se  at  the  close  of  the  Anglo 
Norman  jieriod  at  home. 

(Jne  essential  dilference  is  generally  >iippo-e<l  lo  have  sep- 


280  EOMAN  NATIVES  OF  GAUL.  Notes  to 

arated  the  Frank  from  the  Roman.  The  latter  was  subject 
to  personal  and  territorial  taxation.  Such  had  been  his  con- 
dition under  the  empire ;  and  whether  the  burden  might  or 
not  be  equal  in  degree  (probably  it  was  not  such),  it  is  not 
at  all  reasonable  to  believe  without  proof  that  he  was  ever 
exempted  from  it.  It  is,  however,  true  that  some  French 
writers  have  assumed  all  territorial  impositions  on  free  land- 
holders to  have  ceased  after  the  conquest.  (Recits  des  Temj^s 
Meroving.  i.  268).-^  This  controversy  I  do  not  absolutely 
undertake  to  determine  ;  but  the  proof  evidently  lies  on  those 
who  assert  the  Roman  to  have  been  more  favored  than  he 
was  under  the  empire ;  when  all  were  liable  to  the  land-tax, 
though  only  those  destitute  of  freehold  possessions  paid  the 
capitation  or  census.  We  cannot  infer  such  a  distinction  on 
the  ground  of  tenure  from  a  passage  of  Gregory  (lib.  ix.  c. 
30)  :  —  Childebertus  vero  rex  descriptores  in  Pictavos,  in- 
vitante  Marovio  episcopo,  jussit,  abire  ;  id  est,  Florentianum 
majorem  domus  regime,  et  Romulfum  palatii  sui  comitem,  ut 
scilicet  populus  censum  quem  tempore  patris  functi  fuerant, 
facta  ratione  innovaturas,  reddere  deberet.  Multi  enim  ex 
his  defuncti  fuerant,  et  ob  hoc  viduis  oi'phanisque  ac  debilibus 
tributi  poudus  inciderat.  Quod  hi  discutientes  per  ordinem, 
relaxantes  pauperes  ac  infirmos,  illos  quos  justiti^e  conditio 
tributaries  dabat,  censu  publico  subsiderunt."  These  collec- 
tox's  were  repelled  by  the  citizens  of  Tours,  who  proved  that 
Clotaire  I.  had  released  their  city  from  any  public  tribute, 
out  of  respect  for  St.  Martin.  And  the  reigning  king  ac- 
quiesced in  this  immunity.  It  may  also  be  inferred  from 
another  passage  (Lib.  x.  c.  7)  that  even  ecclesiastical  property 
was  not  exempt  from  taxation,  unless  by  special  privilege, 
which  indeed  seems  to  be  implied  in  the  many  charters  con- 
ceding this  immunity,  and  in  the  forms  of  Marculfus." 

1  M.  Lehuerou  imputes  the  same  theory  subject  of  taxation,  clearly  proves,  in  my 
to  Montesquieu.  I5ut  his  words  (Espr.  opinion,  that  the  land-tax  imposerl  unJer 
des  Loix,  xxx.  13)  do  not  as.sert  that  tlie  the  empire  continued  to  be  levied  on  the 
Romans  might  not  be  subject  to  taxation  Itoraan  subjects  of  Clevis  and  the  next 
in  the  earlier  Merovingian  period  ;  though  two  generations.  {\o\.  \.  \i.2~\,et  post.) 
afterwards,  as  he  supposes,  this  obliga-  Tbe  Franks,  such  as  were  tngeniii,  were 
tion  was  replaced  by  that  of  military  ser-  originally  exempt  from  this  and  all  other 
vice.  tribute.     Of  this  M.  Lehuerou  makes  no 

2  This  note  was  written  before  I  had  doubt ;  nor,  perhaps,  has  any  one  doubt- 
looked  at  a  work  published  in  1843,  by  ed  it,  except  Dubos.  But,  under  the  sons 
M.  Lehuerou,  '  Histoire  des  Institutions  and  grandsons  of  Clevis,  endeavors  were 
Merovingieunes,'  in  which,  with  much  made,  to  which  I  have  drawn  attention 
impartiality  and  erudition,  lie  draws  ,a  in  a  subsequent  note,  by  those  despotic 
line  between  the  theories  of  Duhos  and  princes,  eager  to  assume  the  imperial 
Montesquieu ;  and,  upon  this  particular  prerogatives   over  all  their  subjects,  to 


Chap.  II.  ROMAN  NATIVES   OF  GAUL.  281 

It  seems,  however,  clear  that  the  Frank  laiulholiliT.  the 
Francits  ingenuiis,  boni  to  his  share,  according  to  old  notions, 
of  national  sovt-rciirntv,  pive  indeed  liis  voluntary  donation 
aunually  to  the  kinj,%  liut  reckoned  hhnselt'  entirely  free  from 
compulsory  tribute.  We  read  of  no  tux  imposed  by  the  as- 
semblies of  the  Field  of  ^larch  ;  and  if  the  kinirs  had  pos- 
sessed the  i)rero,!zative  of  levyinj;  money  at  will,  the  monarchy 
must  have  become  wholly  alisolute  without  opposition.  The 
barbarian  was  distinguished  by  his  abhorrence  of  tribute. 
Tvramiy  might  strip  one  man  of  his  jiossessions,  banish 
tmother  from  his  country,  destroy  the  life  of  a  third  ;  the 
rest  would  at  the  utmost  murmur  in  silence  ;  but  a  general 
imiH)siiion  on  them  as  a  people  was  a  yoke  luider  which  they 
would  not  pass  without  resistance.  I  shall  mention  a  few 
instances  in  a  future  note.  The  Roman,  on  the  other  hand, 
complained  doubtless  of  new  or  unrea.sonable  taxation  ;  but 
he  couM  not  avoid  acknowledging  a  principle  of  government 
to  which  his  forefathers  had  titr  so  many  ages  submitted. 
The  hou.se  of  Clovis  stood  to  him  in  place  of  the  Ccesars  ;  this 
part  of  the  theory  of  Dubos  cannot  be  disputed.  Rut  when 
that  writer  extends  the  same  to  the  Frank,  iis  a  constitutional 
fKjsition,  and  not  merely  referring  to  acts  protested  against  as 
illeg-al,  the  voice  of  history  refutes  him. 

Dulms  has  a.s.scrted.  and  is  followed  by  many,  that  the 
armv  of  Chjvis  was  composed  of  I»ut  a  few  thousand  Salian 
Franks.  And  for  this  the  testimony  of  Gregory  has  been 
adduced,  who  informs  us  oidy  that  .'J.OOO  of  the  army  of  Clovis 
(a  later  writer  .says  (i,<iO<i)  were  Ijaptized  with  him.  (Greg. 
Tur.  lib.  ii.  c.  33.)  But  Clovis  wjis  not  the  sole  chieftain  of 
his  tril)e.  It  has  been  seen  that  he  enlarged  his  command 
towanls  the  do-^e  of  his  life,  by  violent  measures  with  respect 
to  other  kings  as  indepemlent  ajiparently  as  himself,  and  some 
of  whom  Itelonged  to  his  family.  Thus  the  Ripuarian  Franks, 
who  octMipicfl  tlie  left  bank  of  the  Rhine,  came  under  his 
swav.  AikI  be«iile-;  this,  tlie  argument  fioin  the  luunber  of 
soldier.-*  baptized  with  Clovis  assumes  that  the  whole  army 
eml>r.iceil  Christianity  with  their  king.  It  is  true  that  (Jreg- 
ory  .-eeiii-  to  impiv  tliis.  Hut,  even  in  the  seventh  century, 
the  Frank>  on  the  Meuse  and  Scheldt  were  still  chiefly  pagan, 

rrili  tli<-         '  :   liiimiiiiity ;     Komil  iiiitlinrity  of  t lie  cnviTci^fri.    (IliMt. 

Bill  n  ■■  II  iirii't'Mni-     di-M  liiwt.  .Mi-niviiig.  I.  4-.J,  rt  piifl.) 

cjf  fH«u.  .     .........i.il   tliu  jMjr- 


282  ROMAN  NATIVES   OF  GAUL.  Notes  to 

as  the  Lives  of  the  Saints  are  said  by  Thierry  to  prove.  We 
have  only,  it  is  to  be  remembered,  a  declamatory  and  super- 
ficial history  for  this  period,  derived,  as  I  believe,  from  the 
panegyrical  life  of  St.  Remy,  and  bearing  traces  of  legendary 
incorrectness  and  exaggeration.  We  may,  however,  appeal 
to  other  ci'iteria. 

It  cannot  be  too  frequently  inculcated  on  the  reader  who 
desires  to  form  a  general  but  tolerably  exact  notion  of  the 
state  of  France  under  the  first  line  of  kings,  that  he  is  not 
hastily  to  draw  inferences  from  one  of  the  three  divisions, 
Austrasia,  Neustria,  and  Aquitaine,  to  which,  for  a  part  of 
the  period,  we  must  add  Burgundy,  to  the  rest.  The  differ- 
ence of  language,  though  not  always  decisive,  furnishes  a  pre- 
sumption of  different  origin.  We  may  therefore  estimate, 
with  some  probability,  the  proportion  of  Franks  settled  in  the 
monarchy  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Rhine,  by  the  extent  of 
country  wherein  the  Teutonic  language  is  spoken,  unless  we 
have  reason  to  suspect  that  any  change  in  the  boundaries  of 
that  and  the  French  has  since  taken  place.  The  Latin  was 
certainly  an  encroaching  language,  and  its  daughter  has  in 
some  measure  partaken  of  the  same  character.  Many  causes 
are  easy  to  assign  why  either  might  have  gained  ground  on 
two  dialects,  the  German  and  Flemish,  contiguous  to  it  on 
the  eastern  frontier,  while  we  can  hardly  perceive  one  for  an 
opposite  result.  We  find,  nevertheless,  that  both  have  very 
nearly  kept  their  ancient  limits.  It  has  been  proved  by  M. 
Raoux,  in  the  Memoirs  of  the  Academy  of  Brussels  (vol.  iv. 
p.  411),  that  few  towns  or  villages  have  changed  their  lan- 
guage since  the  ninth  century.  The  French  or  Walloon  fol- 
lowed in  that  early  age  the  irregular  line  which,  running  from 
Calais  and  St.  Omer  to  Lisle  and  Tournay,  stretches  north  of 
the  Meuse  as  far  as  Liege,  and,  bending  thence  to  the  south- 
westward,  passes  through  Longwy  to  Metz.  These  towns 
speak  French,  and  spoke  it  under  Charlemagne,  if  we  can  say 
that  under  Charlemagne  French  was  spoken  anywhere  ;  at 
least  they  spoke  a  dialect  of  Latin  origin.  The  exceptions 
are  few  ;  but  where  they  exist,  it  is  from  the  progress  of 
French  rather  than  the  contrary.  A  writer  of  the  sixteenth 
century  says  of  St.  Omer  that  it  was  "  Olim  baud  dubie  mere 
Flandricum,  deinde  tamen  bilingue,  nunc  autem  in  totum  fere 
Gallicum."  There  has  also  been  a  sli<>;ht  movement  toward 
French  in  the  last  fifty  years. 


o 


Chap.  If.  ROMAN  NATIVES   OF  GAUL.  283 

Tin-  ino.>t  remarkable  evidence  for  the  duration  ot'  the 
limit  is  the  act  of  j)artition  between  Lotliaire  of  Lorraine  and 
Charles  the  Bald,  in  !S7U,  whence  it  appears  that  the  names 
of  places  where  French  is  now  spoken  were  then  French. 
Yet  most  of  these  had  been  built,  especially  the  abbeys,  sub- 
sequently to  the  Frank  couipiest :  "  d'oii  on  pent  conclure 
que  menie  dans  le  periode  frampie,  le  hmirage  vulgaire  du 
grand  nombre  des  habitiuis  du  l)ays,  (pii  sont  i)resentemcnt 
"Wallons,  n'etait  pas  teutoni(pie  ;  car  on  en  verrait  des  traces 
dans  les  actes  hi>tori(iues  et  •reojrraphicjucs  de  ce  temps-la." 
(P.  434.)  Nothing',  says  M.  ^Fichelet,  can  be  more  French 
than  the  Walloon  country,  (ilist.de  France,  viii.  287.)  He 
expatiates  almost  with  enthu>iasm  on  the  praise  of  this  people, 
who  seem  to  have  retained  a  large  share  of  his  favorite 
Celtic  element.  It  ;ip|it  ars  that  the  result  of  an  investiga- 
tion into  the  languages  on  the  Alsatian  frontier  would  be 
much  the  same.  Here,  therefore,  we  have  a  very  reasonable 
presumption  that  the  forefathers  of  the  Flemish  Belgians, 
a.-^  well  as  of  the  people  of  Alsace,  were  barbarians  :  some 
of  the  former  may  l)e  sprung  from  Saxon  colonies  planted  in 
Brabant  by  Cliarlcinagne ;  but  we  may  derive  the  majority 
from  Salian  ami  Kipuarian  Franks.  These  were  the 
strength  of  Austra-ia,  and  among  these  the  great  restorer, 
or  rather  founder,  of  tlie  empire  fixed  his  capital  at  Aix-la- 
Ciiapelle. 

In  A(piitaine,  on  the  other  hand,  everything  appears 
Roman,  in  contratlistinction  to  Frank,  except  the  reigning 
family.  Tiie  chief  dilliiulty,  therefore,  concerns  Neustria  ; 
that  is,  from  the  Scheldt,  or,  i)erhaps,  the  Somme,  to  the 
L(jire  :  and  to  this  important  king(h)m  the  advocates  of  the 
two  nations,  Koman  and  Fiank,  lay  claim.  M.  Thierry  has 
paid  mudi  atti'ntion  to  the  subject,  and  come  to  the  conclu- 
sion tiiat.  in  the  seventh  century,  the  luunber  of  Frank  land- 
holders, from  the  Rhine  to  the  Loire,  much  exceeded  that 
of  tlie  Roman.  And  this  excess  he  tiikes  to  have  been  in- 
creased througli  the  seizure  of  Church  lands  in  the  next  age 
by  Charles  Martei,  who  bestowed  them  on  his  (Icrman  troops 
enli-ted  beyond  the  lihine.  Tlie  metiiod  whicii  Tiii(  i  ry  lias 
pur.'^ued,  in  ordi-r  to  ascertain  this,  is  ingenious  and  presump- 
ti\ely  ri^flit.  He  icniarkfMl  that  tli<'  names  of  ])lacfs  will 
otivn  indiejite  wlieilu;r  tlie  inhaltitanis,  or  more  often  the 
chief  proprietor,  were  of  Roman  or  Teutonic  origin.     Thus 


284  ROMAN  NATIVES   OF  GAUL.  Notes  to 


Franconville  and  Romainville,  near  Paris,  are  distinguished, 
in  charters  of  the  ninth  century,  as  Francorum  villa  and 
Romanorum  villa.  This  is  an  instance  where  the  pojndation 
seems  to  have  been  of  ditferent  race.  But  commonly  the 
owner's  Christian  name  is  followed  by  a  familiar  termination. 
In  that  same  neighborhood  j^rojjer  names  of  German  origin, 
Avith  the  terminations  ville,  court,  mont,  vol,  and  the  like,  are 
very  frequent.  And  this  he  finds  to  be  generally  the  case 
north  of  the  Loire,  compared  with  the  left  bank  of  that  river. 
It  is,  of  course,  to  be  understood  that  this  proportion  of 
su^^erior  landholders  did  not  extend  to  the  general  population. 
For  that,  in  all  Neustrian  France,  was  evidently  composed 
of  those  who  spoke  the  rustic  Roman  tongue  —  the  corrupt 
language  which,  in  the  tenth  or  eleventh  century,  became 
worthy  of  the  name  of  French ;  and  this  was  the  case,  as 
we  have  just  seen,  in  part  of  Austrasia,  as  Champagne  and 
Lorraine. 

We  may,  therefore,  conclude  that  the  Franks,  even  in  the 
reign  of  Clovis,  were  rather  a  numerous  people  —  including, 
of  course,  the  Ripuarian  as  well  as  the  Salian  tribe.  They 
certainly  appear  in  great  strength  soon  afterwards.  If  we 
believe  Procopius,  the  army  which  Theodebert,  king  only  of 
Austrasia,  led  into  Italy  in  539,  amounted  to  100,000.  And, 
admitting  the  probability  of  great  exaggeration,  we  could 
not  easily  reconcile  this  with  a  very  low  estimate  of  Frank 
numbers.  But,  to  say  the  truth,  I  do  not  rely  much  on  this 
statement.  It  is,  at  all  events,  to  be  remembered  that  the 
dominions  of  Theodebert,  on  each  side  of  the  Rhine,  would 
furnish  barbarian  soldiers  more  easily  than  those  of  the 
western  kingdoms.  Some  may  conjecture  that  the  army 
was  partly  composed  of  Romans ;  yet  it  is  doubtful  whether 
they  served  among  the  Franks  at  so  early  a  period,  though 
we  find  them  some  years  afterwards  under  Chilperic,  a 
Neustrian  sovereign.  The  armies  of  Aquitaine,  it  is  said, 
were  almost  wholly  composed  of  Romans  or  Goths ;  it  could 
not  have  been  otherwise. 

The  history  of  Gregory,  which  terminates  in  598,  affords 
numerous  instances  of  Romans  in  the  highest  otfices,  not 
merely  of  trust,  but  of  power.  Such  were  Celsus,  Amatus, 
Mummolus,  and  afterwards  Protadius  in  Burgund}^  and  De- 
siderius  in  Aquitaine.  But  in  these  two  parts  of  the  mon- 
archy we  might  anticipate  a  greater  infiuence  of  the  native 


Chap.  II.  ROMAN'  N ATIVFS   OF  GAUL.  285 

[)opnlation.  In  Xi'ustria  and  Au^trasia.  a  Roman  count,  or 
mavor  of  the  palace,  niijrht  have  been  uut'avural)ly  behel.l. 
Yet  in  the  hitter  khigdoni,  all  Frank  as  it  was  in  its  jreneral 
character,  we  find,  even  hetbre  the  micUlle  of  the  sixth  cen- 
turv.  Lupus,  (hike  of  C'lianipagne,  a  man  of  considerable 
weiLdit,  and  a  Roman  by  birth;  and,  it  was  the  })olicy  after- 
wards of  lirunehaut  to  employ  Romans.  But  this  not  only 
excited  the  hostility  of  the  Austrasian  Franks,  but  of  the 
Burjrundians  themselves ;  nor  ditl  anytliimr  more  tend  to  the 
ruin  of  that  ainl>itious  woman.  Despotism,  through  its  most 
i-eady  instruments,  was  her  aim ;  and,  when  she  signally 
foiled  in  the  attempt,  the  star  of  Germany  prevailed.  From 
that  time.  Austrasia  at  least,  if  not  Neustria,  became  a  Frank 
aristocracy.  We  hear  little  more  of  Romans,  ecclesiastics 
excepted,  in  considerable  power. 

If"  indeed,  we  could  agree  with  ^Iontes<iuieu  and  ^NFably, 
that  a  Roman  subject  might  change  his  law  and  live  l)y  tlie 
Salic  code  at  his  discretion,  his  equality  with  the  Franks 
would  have  been  virtually  recognized;  since  every  one 
might  place  himself  in  the  condition  of  the  more  favored 
nation.  And  hence  ]Mal)ly  accounts  for  the  prevalence  of 
the  Frank  jurisprudence  in  tlie  north  of  France,  since  it 
wa-i  more  advantageous  to  ailojit  it  a<  a  jx-rsonal  law.  The 
Roman  migiit  become  an  alodial  landholder,  a  member  of  the 
sovereign  legislature  in  the  Field  of  March.  His  iceregild 
would  be  raised,  and  with  that  his  relative  situation  in  the 
commonwealth  ;  his  lands  would  be  exempt  from  taxation. 
But  this  theory  has  been  latterly  rejected.  We  cannot, 
indeed,  conceive  one  less  consonant  to  the  i)rinciples  of  the 
barbarian  kingdoms,  or  the  general  language  of  the  laws. 
Montes(juieu  wa<  deeeivecl  by  a  pa>sage  in  an  early  capitu- 
lary, of  which  the  best  manuscripts  furnish  a  ditferent  nad- 
ing.  Mablv  was  pleased  with  an  hypothesis  which  rendered 
the  basis  of  the  slate  more  democratical.  lint  the  tirst  who 
pro|>agated  this  error,  and  on  more  plausible  grounds  than 
3Iontesf|uieu,  though  he  (Esprit  des  Loix,  liv.  xxviii.  c.  4) 
seem-  to  d.-iim  it  as  a  discovery  of  his  own,  were  l)u  Cange 
and  >riiratori.  They  were  misled  by  an  edict  of  the  em- 
f>erf»r  Lothaire  I.  in  824:  — "  \'ohnnus  ut  cunctus  populus 
RoMianu-i  inlerrogetur  rjuali  lege  vull  vivere,  ut  tali,(|ua!i  pro- 
fe--i  tiierint  vivere  vellf,  vivant."  But  Savigny  has  pidved 
tliat  this  was  a  peculiar  exception  of  favor  granted  at  thai  time 


286  DISTIXCTION  OF  LAWS.  Notes  to 

to  the  Romans,  or  rather  separately  to  each  person  ;  and  that 
not  as  a  privilege  of  the  ancient  population,  but  for  the  sake 
of  the  barbarians  who  had  settled  at  Rome.  Raynouard  is 
one  of  those  who  have  been  deceived  by  the  more  obvious 
meaning  of  this  law,  and  adopts  the  notion  of  Mably  on  its 
authority.  "Were  it  even  to  bear  such  an  interpretation,  we 
could  not  draw  a  general  inference  from  it.  In  the  case  of 
married  women,  or  of  the  clergy,  the  liberty  of  changing  the 
law  of  birth  Avas  really  permitted.  (See  Savigny,  i.  134,  et 
post,  Engl,  transl.) 

It  should,  however,  be  mentioned,  that  a  late  very  learned 
writer,  Troja,  admits  the  hypothesis  of  a  change  of  law  in 
France,  not  as  a  right  in  every  Roman's  power,  but  as  a 
special  privilege  sometimes  conceded  by  the  king.  And  we 
may  think  this  conjecture  not  unworthy  of  regard,  since  it 
serves  to  account  for  what  is  rather  anomalous  —  the  admis- 
sion of  mere  Romans,  at  an  early  period,  to  the  great  offices 
of  the  monarchy,  and  especially  to  that  of  count,  which  in- 
volved the  rank  of  presiding  in  the  Frank  mallus.  It  is  said 
that  Romans  sometimes  assumed  German  names,  though 
the  contrary  never  happened  ;  and  this  of  itself  seems  to  in- 
dicate a  change,  as  far  as  was  possible,  of  national  connection. 
But  it  is  of  little  service  to  the  hypothesis  of  Montesquieu 
and  Mably.  Of  the  edict  of  Lothaire  Troja  thinks  like 
Savigny ;  but  he  adopts  the  reading  of  the  capitulary,  as 
quoted  by  Montesquieu,  "  Francum,  aut  barbarum,  aut 
hominem  qui  lege  Salica  vivit ; "  where  the  best  manuscripts 
omit  the  second  aut. 

Note  V.     Page  155. 

This  subject  has  been  fully  treated  in  the  celebrated  work 
by  Savigny,  '  History  of  Roman  Law  in  the  Middle  Ages.' 
The  diligence  and  fidelity  of  this  eminent  writer  have  been 
acknowledged  on  all  sides  ;  nor  has  any  one  been  so  copious 
in  collecting  materials  for  the  history  of  mediaeval  jurispru- 
dence, or  so  perspicuous  in  arranging  them.  In  a  few  points 
later  inquirers  have  not  always  concurred  with  him.  But, 
with  the  highest  respect  for  Savigny,  we  may  say,  that  of  the 
two  leading  propositions  —  namely,  first,  the  continuance  of 
the  Theodosian  code,  copied  into  the  Breviarium  Aniani,  as 
the  personal  law  of  the  Roman  inhabitants,  both  of  France 


Ch-u".  n.  i»i>TrxrTiox  of  laws.  2.s7 

and  Italy,  for  seversil  centuries  after  the  subjtijration  of  those 
countries  hv  the  liarharians  ;  and,  seeoiidly,  the  (|ii(ttati(tii  of 
the  Pandects  and  otlier  parts  of  the  hiw  of  Justinian  liy 
some  few  writers,  before  the  pretended  discovery  of  a  manu- 
script at  Amalfi  —  the  former  has  been  perfectly  well  known, 
as  least  ever  since  the  publication  of  the  glossary  of  Ducange 
ill  the  seventeenth  century,  and  that  of  iMuratori's  Disserta- 
tions on  Italian  Antiijuities  in  the  next  ;  nor,  indeed,  could  it 
]>o--;iblv  have  been  overhxtked  by  any  one  who  had  read  the 
barbarian  codes,  full  as  they  are  of  reference  to  those  who 
followed  the  laws  of  Rome  ;  while  the  second  is  also  proved, 
though  not  so  abundantly,  by  several  writers  of  the  la-^t  age. 
Guizot,  praising  Saviguy  for  his  truthfulness,  and  tor  having 
shown  the  permanence  of  Roman  jurisprudence  in  Europe, 
well  a-:ks  how  it  could  ever  have  been  doubted.  (Civil,  en 
France,  Lecon  11.) 

A  late  writer,  indeed,  has  maintained  that  the  Romans  did 
not  preserve  their  law  under  the  Lombards ;  elaborately  re- 
pelling the  proofs  to  the  contrary.  alleg<>d  by  ]\ruratori  and 
Savignv.  (See  Troja,  Discorso  della  Condizione  dei  Romani 
vinti  dai  Longobardi,  sul))oined  to  the  fourth  volume  of  his 
Storia  d'  Italia.)  He  does  not  admit  that  the  inhabitants 
were  treated  l)v  the  Loml)ard  conquerors  as  anything  better 
than  tributaries  or  cohtni.  Even  the  bislio])s  and  cliM'gy 
were  judged  according  to  thr  F.ombard  law  (vol.  v.  p.  80). 
The  personal  law  did  not  come  in  till  the  conquest  of  Charle- 
magne, who  estaldished  it  in  Italy.  And  though  later,  ac- 
cording to  this  writer,  in  its  origin,  the  distinctions  introduced 
by  it  subsisted  much  longer  than  they  did  in  France.  In- 
Ptance*  of  persons  profes-^ing  to  live  by  the  Lombard  law  are 
fouml  verv  late  in  tin-  middle  ages;  the  last  is  at  Bergamo, 
in  l.")8H.  IJut  Hcrgamo  was  a  city  in  which  the  Lombard 
population  had  pn'<loininated.      (Savigny,  vol.  i.  p.  87<S.) 

AVhati'ver  may  have  been  the  case  in  Lonibardy,  the  exis- 
tence of  personal  law  in  France  is  beyond  question.  It  is 
far  more  diHicult  to  fix  a  date  for  its  termination.  These 
national  di»tini'ti(tns  wen-  indelibly  preserved  in  the  south  of 
France  by  a  law  of  Val<-nliniaii  III.,  copied  into  the  llre- 
viarium  Aniani,  which  pmliiliitcd  tin-  int<'rmarriage  of  Ro- 
m.'ui'  with  barliarian-i.  This  wa-  abolishe(l  so  far  as  to 
li'galizf  -y\v\i  unions,  with  the  permission  of  the  count,  l>y  a 
law  of  tlie  Vi^igotlls  in  Spain,  between  053  and  f,7-\      Hut 


288  DISTIXCTIOX  OF  LAWS.  Notes  to 

such  an  enactment  could  not  have  been  obligatory  in  France. 
Whether  the  Franks  ever  took  Roman  wives  I  cannot  say ; 
we  have,  as  far  as  I  am  aware,  no  instance  of  it  in  their 
royal  family.  Proofs  might,  perhaps,  be  found,  with  respect 
to  private  families,  in  the  Lives  of  the  Saints ;  or,  if  none, 
presumptions  to  the  contrary.  Troja  (Storia  d'ltalia,  p. 
1204)  says  that  St.  Medard  was  the  oflspring  of  a  marriage 
between  a  Frank  and  a  Roman  mother,  before  the  conquest 
by  Clo\'is,  and  that  the  father  lived  in  the  Vermandois. 
Savigny  observes  that  the  prohibition  could  only  have  ex- 
isted among  the  Visigoths;  else  a  woman  could  not  have 
changed  her  law  by  marriage.  This,  however,  seems  rather 
applicable  to  Italy  than  to  the  north  of  France,  where  we 
have  no  proof  of  such  a  regulation.  Raynouard,  whose  con- 
stant endeavor  is  to  elevate  the  Roman  population,  assumes 
that  they  would  have  disdained  intermari-iage  with  barba- 
rians. (Hist,  du  Di'oit  Municipal,  i.  288.)  But  the  only 
instance  which  he  adduces,  strangely  enough,  is  that  of  a 
Goth  with  a  Frank  ;  which,  we  are  informed,  was  reckoned 
to  disparage  the  former.  It  is  very  likely,  nevertheless,  that 
a  Frank  Antrustion  would  not  have  held  himself  higlily 
honored  by  an  alliance  with  either  a  Goth  or  a  Roman. 
Each  nation  had  its  own  pride ;  the  conqueror  in  arms  and 
dominion,  the  conquered  in  polished  mannei's  and  ancient 
renown. 

"  At  the  beginning  of  the  ninth  century,"  says  M.  Guizot, 
"  the  essential  characteristic  is  that  laws  are  personal  and  not 
territorial.  At  the  beginning  of  the  eleventh  the  reverse 
prevails,  except  in  a  very  few  instances."  (Le9on  25.  But 
can  we  approximate  no  nearer?  The  territorial  element,  to 
use  that  favorite  word,  seems  to  show  itself  in  an  expression 
of  the  edict  of  Pistes,  864:  —  "In  lis  regionibus  qu£e  legem 
Romanam  sequuntur."  (Capit.  Car.  Calvi.)  This  must  be 
taken  to  mean  the  south  of  France,  Avhere  the  number  of 
persons  who  followed  any  other  law  may  have  been  incon- 
siderable, relatively  to  the  rest,  so  that  the  name  of  the  dis- 
trict is  used  collectively  for  the  inhabitants.  (Savigny,  i. 
162.)  And  this  became  the  pays  du  droit  ecrit,  bounded,  at 
least  in  a  loose  sense,  by  the  Loire,  wherein  the  Roman  was 
the  common  law  down  to  the  French  revolution  ;  the  laws 
of  Justinian,  in  the  progress  of  learning,  having  naturally 
taken  place  of  the  Theodosian.     But  in  the  same  capitulary 


Chap.  II.  DKTINCTION  OF  LAWS.  289 

we  read.  —  "  De  illis  qui  secundum  legem  Romanam  vivunt, 
nihil  aliutl  nisi  quod  in  iisdem  eontinetui'  lejribus,  derinimus. 
And  the  king  (C'harles  the  Bald)  I'lnphatioally  declares  that 
neither  that  nor  any  other  capitulary  wliich  he  or  his  prede- 
cessoi-s  had  made  is  designed  for  those  who  obeyed  the  Roman 
law.  The  fact  may  be  open  to  some  limitation  ;  but  we  have 
here  an  express  recognition  of  the  continuance  of  the  separate 
races.  It  seems  higlily  |)robal)le  that  the  interference  of  the 
bishops,  still  in  a  great  measure  of  Roman  birth,  and,  even 
where  otherwise,  disposed  to  favor  Roman  policy,  contributed 
to  protect  the  luicient  inhabitants  from  a  Icgi-hiture  wherein 
they  were  not  represented.  And  this  strongly  coiToborates 
the  jirobability  that  the  Romans  had  never  partaken  of  the 
legislative  power  in  the  national  assemblies. 

In  the  middle  of  the  tenth  century,  however,  according  to 
Sismondi,  the  distinction  of  races  was  lost ;  none  were 
Goth-;,  or  Romans,  or  even  Franks,  but  Aquitanians,  Bur- 
gundians,  Fleming.*.  French  had  become  the  language  of 
the  nation  (iii.  400).  French  must  here  be  understood  to 
include  Provencal,  and  to  be  used  in  opposition  to  Ger- 
man. In  this  sense  the  assertion  seems  to  be  nearly  true  ; 
and  it  may  naturally  have  been  the  consequence  that  all 
difference  of  personal  laws  had  come  to  an  end.  The  feudal 
customs,  the  local  usages  of  counties  and  fiefs,  took  as  much 
the  lead  in  nortliern  France  a-s  the  Roman  code  still  pre- 
served in  the  south.  Tiie  pinjs  coutumiers  separated  them- 
selves In'  territorial  di-tinctions  from  the  pays  du  droit} 
Still  the  instance  quoted  in  my  note,  p.  134,  from  Vaissette 
(where,  at  Carca.ssonne,  so  late  as  918,  we  find  Roman, 
Gotii.  and  Frank  judges  enumerated),  is  a  striking  evidence 

I  A  work  which  I  had  not  dwn  when  code   had  been  compiled  on  a  different 

thin  not<!  was  written,  "  nij*t<iire  du  Droit  motivf  or  leadinjj;  principle.    This  is  very 

Fran^jJiis."  hv  .M.  IjiferrierLMp.  8.0),  treats  much  what  took  place  in  EiiRland,  and 

at  Houie  length  the  ori^Tn  of  the  custom-  perhaps  more  nipidlv,  in  the  twelfth  cen- 

ary  la«-  of  France.     It  was  not,  in  any  tury  ;  the   .Norman  "law,  with   its  feudal 

conxi'leratile  di-gree,  borrowtil  from  the  principle,  replaced  the  .Xnglo-.Saxon. 

bart     - ''.  n'lr  hTi-atly,  as  he  thinks,         Jiut    a    ltelj;ian    writer,    .M.     Kaepsaet 

trt"  inlaw,     lii- jxiints  out  the  (.N'ouvcaux   -Miinoires    de   T.-Vcadi  iiiic    da 

man  n-pancies  from  the  former  Hruxi-lles,  t.  iii.),  contends  th.ut  the  .Salic 

of  theM?.     Hut  these  c(sles  Hp|M-ar  to  have  and  Ki|>uarian  laws  had  autlioritv  in  tho 

Ixwn  in  force  under  <'harli-ma;;ne.     Tho  -Vetherlands,  down  to  the  thirleciith  ccn- 

feudnl  cunloms,   which    liecame  the  solo  tury,  for  towns  and  for  almlial   proprie- 

Inw  on  the  ri|{ht   bank  of  the  I^ire,  ho  torn.      We    fin<l    lex    Salira    in     several 

n-fi-rs    to   the    ninth   and    two   followiuK  limtruments :    Ofho   of    Krisin^ien    sjiys, 

centuric".      And  I  nuppoM.'  there  can   be  "  I/cge   (juie  Salica    ns(|Uc'  ail    lia'C   te'm- 

no    donlit    of    this.      The    xpirlt    of    the  pora    vocatiir,    nobilissiuios     Knmcorum 

Frenrh    cu»toni»,    both    t<'rritorial    and  adliuc  uli.'     Hut  this   must  have  been 

pcrwitml,   wttji   wholly   feu.lal;    the   Sullc  chielly  as  to  successions. 

VOL.    1.  Hi 


290  PROVIXCIAL   GOVERNiVfEXT.  Notes  to 

that,  even  far  to  tlie  south,  the  territorial  principle  had  not 
yet  wholly  subverted  those  privileges  of  races,  to  which  the 
barbarians,  and  also  the  Romans,  clung  as  honorably  dis- 
tinctive. 

It  is  only  by  the  force  of  very  natural  prejudices,  acting 
on  both  the  polished  and  the  uncivilized,  that  we  can 
account  for  the  long  continuance  of  this  inconvenient  sepa- 
ration. If  the  Franks  scorned  the  complex  and  wordy  juris- 
prudence of  Rome,  it  was  just  as  intolerable  for  a  Roman  to 
endure  the  rude  usages  of  a  German  tribe.  The  traditional 
glory  of  Rome,  transferred  by  the  adoption  of  that  name  to 
the  provincials,  consoled  them  in  their  subjection ;  and  in  the 
continuance  of  their  law,  in  the  knowledge  that  it  was  the 
guarantee  of  their  civil  rights  against  a  litigious  barbarian, 
though  it  might  afford  them  but  imperfect  security  against 
his  violence,  in  the  connection  which  it  strengthened  with 
the  Church  (for  churchmen  of  all  nations  followed  it), 
they  found  no  trifling  recommendations  of  this  distinction 
from  the  conquerors.  It  seems  to  be  proved  that,  in  lapse 
of  ages,  each  had  gradually  boi'rowed  something  from  the 
other.  The  melting  down  of  personal  into  territorial,  that 
is,  uniform  law,  as  it  cannot  be  referred  to  any  positive 
enactment  or  to  any  distinct  period,  seems  to  have  been  the 
result  of  such  a  process.  The  same  judges,  the  counts  and 
missi,  appear  to  have  decided  the  controversies  of  all  the 
subject  nations,  whether  among  themselves  or  one  with 
another.  Marculfus  tells  us  this  in  positive  terms :  "  Eos 
recto  tramite  secundum  legem  et  consuetudinem  eorum 
regas."  (Marculf.  Formulae,  lib.  i.  c.  8.)  Nor  do  we  find 
any  separate  judges,  except  the  defensor es  of  cities,  who 
were  Romans,  but  had  only  a  limited  jurisdiction.  It  Avas 
only  as  to  civil  rights,  as  ought  to  be  remarked,  that  the  dis- 
tinction of  personal  law  was  maintained.  The  penalties  of 
crime  were  defined  by  a  law  of  the  state.  And  the  same 
must  of  course  be  understood  as  to  military  service. 

Note  VI.     Pages  156,  164. 

The  German  dukes  of  the  Alemanni  and  Bavarians  be- 
longed to  once  royal  families :  their  hereditary  rights  may 
be  considered  as  those  of  territorial  chiefs.  Again,  in  Aqui- 
taiue  the  Merovingian  kings  had  so  little  authority  that  the 


Chap.  II.  PROVIXCIAL  GOVERNMENT.  291 

counts  became  nearly  indepenilent.  But  we  do  nttt  find 
reason,  as  far  as  I  am  aware,  to  believe  any  regular  succes- 
sion of  a  son  to  his  father,  in  Xeustria  or  Austrasia,  under 
the  first  dynasty:  much  less  would  Charlemai;ne  have  per- 
mittt'd  it  to  grow  u[».  It  could  ucvt-r  have  beionic  an  estab- 
lislied  usage,  except  in  a  monarchy  too  weak  to  maintain 
any  of  its  jnvrogativcs.  Such  a  monarchy  was  that  of 
Charles  the  Bald.  I  have  said  that,  in  the  famous  capitulary 
of  Kiersi,  in  877,  the  succession  of  a  son  to  his  father  appears 
to  be  recognized  as  a  known  usage.  ]\I.  Fauriel,  on  the 
other  hand,  denies  that  this  capitularv  even  confirms  it  at  all. 
(Hist,  de  la  Gaule  Mcridioualc  iv.  383.)  "VVe  both,  there- 
fore, agree  against  the  current  of  Fi'cnch  writers  who  take 
this  for  the  epoch  of  hereditary  succession.  It  seems  evident 
to  me  that  an  usage,  sutticient,  in  common  parlance,  to  entitle 
the  son  to  receive  the  honor  which  his  father  had  held,  is 
implied  in  this  capitulary.  But  the  object  of  the  enactment 
was  to  provide  for  the  contingency  of  a  territorial  govern- 
ment becoming  vaamt  by  death  during  the  intended  absence 
of  the  emperor  Charles  in  Italy ;  and  that  in  cases  only  where 
the  son  of  the  deceased  count  should  be  with  the  army,  or  in 
his  minority,  or  where  no  son  survived.  "  It  is  obvious," 
Palgrave  says,  "  that  the  law  relates  to  the  custody  of  the 
county  or  fief  during  the  interval  between  the  death  of  the 
father  and  the  investiture  of  the  heir."  (English  Common- 
wealth, 31(2.)  But  the  case  of  an  heir,  that  is,  a  son  —  for 
collateral  inheritance  is  excluded  by  the  terms  of  the  capitu- 
lary —  being  of  full  age  and  on  the  sj)ot,  is  not  specially 
mentioned ;  so  that  we  must  presume  tiiat  he  would  have 
assumed  the  government  of  the  county,  awaiting  the  sover- 
eign's confirmation  on  his  return  from  the  Italian  exp<'dition. 
The  eajiitulary  should  Ijc  understood  as  ai)p[icable  to  tempo- 
rary circumstances,  rather  than  as  a  i>ermanent  law.  But  I 
mu»t  think  that  the  lineal  succession  is  taken  for  granted 
in  it.* 

•  81  r<>ni«4  ol.icrit.  riijiis  flliui   nnl)in-  notitiam   porvcniat.     Si  vito  filiiim  non 

cum  nit.  niiu«  ii>>»t<T  rum  nitorj"  flll<^-  hiibuiTit.  Alius  imstiT  cum  cati-ris  flde- 

libut  iiixtriH  oriliiict  il<-  his  ijui  jlli  pluH  lihuH   iiostrin   (inlinct.    qui   rum    minis- 

Cimilli>n-<i  i-t  prriiiiiKjuion-ii  fut-riiit,  qui  t«rialibuK  ipclus    comitntrm   vt   cpiiicopo 

cum  iiiinixti^riiiHtiux  ip>iuii  roniitiituH  et  IpHum  comitittuni  prii'vidi-nt,  doueo  juH- 

epl»<-oi><i   lp»uui    comliiitum    pncvldcat,  nio  noHtru  iiuli;  lint.     Kt  pm  \\i»-  iiulluH 

ux'jiK- ruiii  n»liti)  n-tiuiitjctur.    ."^i  iiut4-tii  inixcatur,  ni  Humlcm   comitutum   ulltri, 

fill^       ■    -•       :       '     '  iiirit,  iincli-m    cum  ijui    uoliiH    pbiruiTit,    ili-rlrrliiiuH,    i(uiim 

till  ' 'iiiiifrttfn  i-t  i-pis-  llli  c|iii  i-iim  li,irti-nu»  pinviilit,     Sliulli- 

C'l  ^'    , ..1 1  ■"iinlotlt.i-uuili-m  Ut  »t  do  vuriuilli;*  nostris  fiioiniduui  c»t 

cotuilaluui  iiritvJUeat,  Uouec  aU  nontrauj  (Script.  lltT.  Oall.  Til.  7Ul.) 


292  POWER  OF  THE  KINGS.  Notes  to 

We  find  that  so  long  at  least  as  the  kings  retained  any 
power,  their  confirmation  or  consent  was  required  on  every 
succession  to  an  honor  —  that  is,  a  county  or  other  govern- 
ment —  though  it  was  veiy  rarely  refused.  Guadet  (Notices 
sur  Richer,  p.  G2)  supposes  this  to  have  been  the  case  even 
in  the  last  reigns  of  the  Caroline  family ;  that  is,  in  the  tenth 
century ;  but  this  is  doubtful,  at  least  as  to  the  southern 
dukes  and  counts.  These  honors  gradually,  after  the  acces- 
sion of  the  house  of  Capet,  assumed  a  new  character,  and 
were  confounded  together  with  benefices  under  the  general 
name  of  fiefs  of  the  crown.  The  counts,  indeed,  according 
to  Montesquieu  and  to  probability,  held  beneficiary  lands 
attached  to  their  office.     (Esprit  des  Loix,  xxvi.  27.) 

The  county,  it  may  here  be  mentioned,  was  a  temtorial 
division,  generally  of  the  same  extent  as  the  pagus  of  the 
Roman  empire.  The  latter  appellation  is  used  in  the  Mero- 
vingian period,  and  long  afterwards.  The  w^ord  county, 
comitatus,  is  said  to  be  rare  before  800  ;  but  the  royal  officer 
was  called  comes  from  the  beginning.  The  number  of  pagi, 
or  counties,  I  have  not  found.  The  episcopal  dioceses  were 
118  in  the  Caroline  period,  and  were  frequently,  but  not 
always,  coincident  in  extent  with  the  civil  divisions.  (See 
Gruerard,  Cartulaire  de  Chartres,  Prolegomenes,  p.  6,  in 
Documens  Liedits,  1840.) 


Note  VIL     Page  158. 

A  reconsideration  of  the  Merovingian  history  has  led  me 
to  doubt  whether  I  may  not,  in  my  earlier  editions,  like  sev- 
eral others,  have  rather  exaggerated  the  change  in  the  pre- 
rogative of  the  French  kings  from  Clovis  to  Clotaire  II. 
Though  the  famous  story  of  the  vase  of  Soissons  is  not 
insignificant,  it  now  seems  to  me  that  an  excessive  stress  has 
sometimes  been  laid  upon  it.  In  the  first  place,  there  is  a 
general  objection  to  founding  a  large  political  theory  on  any 
anecdote,  which  proving  false,  the  whole  would  crumble  for 
want  of  a  basis.  This,  however,  is  rather  a  general  remark 
than  intended  to  throw  doubt  upon  the  story  told  by  Gregory 
of  Tours,  who,  though  he  came  so  long  afterwards,  and 
though  there  is  every  appearance  of  rhetorical  exaggeration 
and  inexactness  in  the  detail,  is  likely  to  have  learned  the 


Chap.  H.  POWER   OF   nil-    KINGS.  2!i;3 

principal  fact  bv  tradition  or  some  lost  authority.^  But  even 
taking  the  circumstances  exactly  according  to  his  relation,  do 
tht'v  iro  much  further  than  to  inform  us,  what  our  kn(i\vled"-e 
ot  harhanan  maimers  miglit  lead  any  one  to  presume,  that 
the  booty  obtained  by  a  victory  was  divided  among  the  army? 
Clovis  was  not  refused  the  vase  which  he  retpiested ;  the 
army  gave  their  assent  in  terms  which  Gregor}',  we  may 
well  believe,  has  made  too  submissive ;  he  took  it  without 
regard  to  the  insolence  of  a  single  soldier,  and  revenged 
himself  on  the  lirst  opportunity.  Tiie  Salian  king  was,  I 
believe  from  other  evidence,  a  limited  one ;  he  was  oliliged 
to  consult  his  army  in  war,  his  chief  men  in  peace ;  but  the 
vase  of  Soissons  does  not  seem  to  warrant  us  in  deeming 
him  to  have  been  more  limited  than  fiuni  history  and  anal- 
ogy we  should  otherwise  infer.  If,  indeed,  the  language  of 
Gregory  were  to  be  trusted,  the  whole  result  would  tell  more 
in  favor  of  the  royal  authority  than  against  it.  And  thus 
Dubos.  who  has  written  on  the  principle  of  believing  all  that 
he  found  in  history  to  the  very  letter,  has  interpreted  the 
story. 

Two  French  writers,  the  latter  of  considerable  reputation, 
Bouliunvilliers  and  Mably,  have  contributed  to  render  current 
a  notion  that  the  barbarian  kings,  l)efore  the  conquest  of 
Gaul,  enjoyed  scarcely  any  authority  beyond  that  of  leaders 
of  the  ai'my.  And  this  theory  has  lately  been  maintained 
by  two  of  our  countrymen,  whose  researches  have  met  with 
great  approbation.  "  It  is  plain,"  says  Mr.  Allen,  "the  mon- 
arcliical  theory  cannot  have  Iteen  derived  from  the  ancient 
Germans.  In  tiie  most  considerable  of  the  German  tribes 
the  f<jrm  of  government  was  rejtublicjni.  Some  of  them  had 
a  chief  whom  tiie  Kuinans  designated  with  tlie  appelhition 
of  king;  but  his  authority  was  limited,  and  in  the  most  dis- 
tinguished of  their  trib<'5  the  name  as  well  as  the  otlice  of 
king  was  unknown.-     Tlie  supreme  authority  of  the  nation 

>  .*incc   thin    i>enfonrc   wna   written   I  Orpjrory  of  Tours  has  reconloil  eonocrn- 

h«Tc  fiiuixl  tlie  «tory  of  tlif  tum:  of  SoU-  liip  tlie  foundiT  of  the  luoimnliy ;  very 

ioiw    in    Hinrmiir"n    Lift-   of   St.    Kcnil,  rheforieiil,  and   jirobably    not   accnnito. 

whtrh,  iw  I   have  obwrvf^d  in  a  former  but  ensentially  deserviii;;  belief. 
D'lt.                      to  be  taken  fnun  a  dcK'U-         •  TliiM  ih  by  no  means  an  unqnestion- 

m'"  'nteni|>omry  with  the  Naint,  able  representjition  ot  what  Tacit iis  liaa 

th.ii  .-.    ...i.i  einvln.     ,\nd  thin  oriifiiuil  saiil ;  but  the  laiijtnanc  of  that  historian, 

I.if>-  of  S(.    I'.cnil.   pri-iKTVi-d   only  in  ex-  oj*  ban  been  observed  in  a  former  note,  in 

tm«t«  when   Hinrmnr  coniiilli-<l  liin  own  not  Huflleiently  perKpieuouH  on  this  siib- 

bio(fmpliy  of  tluit  fanioiM  bii.hop.  In,  in  Ject  of  Uermaa  roynlty, 
all    likelUiooJ,    the    lioniji    of    wljat«ver 


294  POWER  OF  THE  KINGS.  Notes  to 

resided  in  the  freemen  of  wliom  it  was  composed.  From 
them  every  determination  proceeded  which  affected  the  gen- 
eral interests  of  the  community,  or  decided  the  hfe  or  death 
of  any  member  of  the  commonwealth.  The  territory  of  the 
state  was  divided  into  districts,  and  in  every  district  there 
was  a  chief  who  presided  in  its  assemblies,  and,  with  the 
assistance  of  the  other  freemen,  regulated  its  internal  con- 
cerns, and  in  matters  of  inferior  importance  administered 
justice  to  the  inhabitants. 

This  form  of  government  subsisted  among  the  Saxons  of 
the  Continent  so  late  as  the  close  of  the  seventh  century,  and 
probably  continued  in  existence  till  their  final  conquest  by 
Charlemagne.  Long  before  that  i^>eriod,  however,  the  tribes 
that  qijitted  their  native  forests,  and  established  themselves 
in  the  empire,  had  converted  the  temporary  general  of  their 
army  into  a  permanent  magistrate,  with  the  title  of  king. 
But  that  the  person  decorated  with  this  appellation  was  in- 
vested Avith  the  attributes  essential  to  royalty  in  after-times  is 
utterly  incredible.  Freemen  with  arms  in  their  hands,  accus- 
tomed to  participate  in  the  exercise  of  the  sovereign  power, 
were  not  likely  without  cause  to  divest  themselves  of  that 
high  prerogative,  and  transfer  it  totally  and  inalienably  to 
their  general.  Chiefs  who  had  been  recently  his  equals 
might,  in  consideration  ot  his  military  talents,  and  from  re- 
gard to  their  common  interest,  acquiesce  in  his  permanent 
superiority  as  commander  of  their  united  forces  ;  but  it  can- 
not be  supposed  that  they  would  gratuitously  and  universally 
submit  to  him  as  their  master.  There  are  no  written  ac- 
counts, it  is  true,  of  the  conditions  stipulated  by  the  German 
warriors  when  they  converted  him  into  a  king.  But  there  is 
abundance  of  facts  recorded  by  historians,  which  show  be- 
yond a  doubt  that,  though  he  might  occasionally  abuse  his 
power  by  acts  of  violence  and  injustice,  the  authority  he  pos- 
sessed by  law  was  far  from  being  unlimited.  (Inquiry  into 
the  Rise  and  Growth  of  Royal  Prerogative,  p.  11.) 

It  may  be  observed,  in  the  first  place,  that  Mr.  Allen  ap- 
peared to  have  combated  a  shadow.  Few,  I  presume,  contend 
for  an  unlimited  authority  of  the  Germanic  kings,  either  be- 
fore or  after  their  conquests  of  France  and  England.  A 
despotic  monarchy  was  utterly  uncongenial  to  the  mediseval 
polity.     Sir  F.  Palgrave  follows  in  the  same  direction  :  — 

"  AVhen  the  '  three  tribes  of  Germany '  first  invaded  Brit- 


CiiAi>.  II.  POWER  OF  THE   KINGS.  295 

ain.  royalty,  in  our  sense  of  the  term,  was  unknown  to  them. 
Amon">t  the  Teutons  in  general  the  word  '  kinir,' nrobaliK' 
borrowed  from  the  Cehie  tongue,  thougli  now  naturalized  in  all 
the  Teutonie  languages,  was  as  yet  not  introduced  or  invented. 
Their  patriarchal  rulers  were  their  'aldermen,'  or  seniors. 
In  'old  Saxony '  there  was  such  an  alderman  in  every  pagus. 
Predominant  or  preeminent  eliietuiins,  whom  the  Romans 
called  •  reges,'  and  who  were  often  confirmed  in  their  domin- 
ions by  the  Romans  themselves,  existed  at  an  earlier  period 
amonirst  several  of  the  German  tribes  ;  but  it  must  not  be 
supposed  that  these  leaders  possessed  any  of  the  exalted 
functions  and  complex  attributes  which,  according  to  our 
ideas,  constitute  royal  dignity.  A  king  must  be  invested 
with  permanent  and  paramount  authority.  For  the  material 
points  at  issue  are  not  atiected  by  showing  that  one  poweiful 
chiettain  might  receive  the  com[tlim('ntary  title  of  rex  from  a 
foreign  power,  or  that  luiother  chieftain,  with  powers  ap- 
proaching to  royalty,  may  not  have  been  created  occasionally, 
and  during  greater  emei'gencies.  The  real  question  is, 
whether  the  king  had  become  the  lord  of  the  soil,  or  at  least 
tlu;  greatest  landed  proprietor,  and  the  first  '  estate  '  of  the 
commonwealth,  endued  with  prerogatives  which  no  other 
member  of  tlie  community  could  claim  or  exercise.  The  dis- 
posal of  the  military  force,  the  sujjreme  administration  of 
justice,  the  right  of  receiving  taxes  and  tributes,  and  the 
character  of  sujireme  legislator  and  perpetual  president  of 
the  councils  of  the  realm,  must  all  belong  to  the  sovereign, 
if  he  is  to  be  king  in  deed  as  well  as  hi  name."  (Rise  and 
Progress  of  the  English  Commonwealth,  vol.  i.  p.  oi)3.) 

TIk'  prerogatives  here  assigned  to  royalty  as  part  of  its 
detinition  are  of  so  various  a  nature,  and  so  indefinitely  ex- 
pressed, that  it  is  difficult  to  argue  about  them.  Certainly  a 
"king  in  dfcd  "  must  receive  taxes,  and  dispose,  though  not 
necc>-arily  without  con.sent,  of  the  military  force,  lie  must 
pre-idf  in  the  councils  of  the  realm;  but  he  need  not  be  su- 
preme legislator,  if  that  is  meant  to  exclude  the  participation 
of  his  sul»j<'cts ;  nmch  less  need  h(!  be  the  lord  of  the  soil  — 
a  very  nxMh-rn  notion,  and  merely  technical,  if  indeed  it 
could  be  .sai<l  to  be  true  in  any  |)roper  sense — nor  cNcn  the 
greatest  landed  |)n)priet(jr.  "  A  king's  a  king  for  a'  that  ;  " 
and  w(!  have  never  in  England  known  any  other. 

JJut  why  do  these  eminent  writers  depreciate  so  confidently 


296  POWER  OF  THE  KINGS.  Notes  to 

the  powers  of  a  Frank  or  Saxon  king  ?  Even  if  Caesar  and 
Tacitus  are  to  be  implicitly  confided  in  for  their  own  times, 
are  we  to  infer  that  no  consolidation  of  the  German  clans,  if 
that  word  is  a  right  one,  had  been  effected  in  the  four  suc- 
ceeding centuries  ?  Ax'e  we  even  to  reject  the  numerous  tes- 
timonies of  Latin  writers  during  those  ages,  who  speak  of 
kmgs,  hereditary  chieftains,  and  leaders  of  the  barbarian 
armies  ?  If  there  is  a  notorious  fact,  both  as  to  the  Salian 
Franks  and  the  Saxons  of  Germany,  it  is  that  each  had  an 
acknowledged  royal  family.  Even  if  they  sometimes  chose 
a  king  not  according  to  our  rules  of  descent,  it  was  invaria- 
bly from  one  ancestor.  The  house  of  Meroveus  was  proba- 
bly recognized  before  the  existence  of  that  obscure  prince  ; 
and  in  England  Hengist  could  boast  the  blood  of  Woden,  the 
demigod  of  heroic  tradition.  A  govei'nment  by  grafs  or  eal- 
dormen  of  the  gau,  might  suit  a  people  whose  forests  pro- 
tected them  from  invasion,  but  was  utterly  incompatible  with 
the  aggressive  warfare  of  the  Franks,  or  of  the  first  conquer- 
ors of  Kent  and  Wessex.  Grimm,  in  his  excellent  antiquities 
of  German  Law,  has  fully  treated  of  the  old  Teutonic  monar- 
chies, not  always  hereditary,  and  never  absolute,  but  easily 
capable  of  receiving  an  enlargement  of  power  in  the  hands 
of  brave  and  ambitious  princes,  such  as  arose  in  the  great 
westward  movement  of  Germany. 

If,  however,  the  authority  of  Clovis  has  been  rated  too 
low,  it  may  also  be  questioned  whether  that  of  the  next  two 
generations,  his  sons  and  grandsons,  has  not  been  exaggerated 
m  contrast.  It  is  certainly  true  that  Gregory  of  Tours  ex- 
hibits a  picture  of  savage  tyranny  in  several  of  these  sover- 
eigns. But  we  are  to  remember  that  particular  acts  of  arbi- 
trary power,  and  especially  the  putting  obnoxious  persons  to 
death,  were  so  congenial  to  the  whole  manners  of  the  age, 
that  they  do  not  prove  the  question  at  issue,  whether  the  gov- 
ernment may  be  called  virtually  an  absolute  monarchy.  Ev- 
ery Frank  of  wealth  and  courage  was  a  despot  within  his 
sphere ;  but  his  sphere  of  power  was  a  bounded  one ;  and  so, 
too,  might  be  that  of  the  king.  Probably  when  Gontran  or 
Fredegonde  oi'dered  a  turbulent  chief  to  be  assassinated,  no 
weregild  was  paid  to  his  kindred  ;  but  his  death  would  excite 
hardly  any  disapprobation,  except  among  those  who  thought 
it  undeserved. 

Gregory  of  Tours,  it  should  be  kept  in  mind,  was  a  Ro- 


Cn.u-.  n.  POTTER  OF  TOE  KIXGS.  207 

man  ;  he  does  not  always  distinguish  the  two  nations  ;  but  a 
great  part  of  the  general  oppression  whieh  we  liud  under  the 
grandchildren  of  Clovis  seems  to  have  fallen  on  the  suhjcet 
people.  As  to  these,  few  are  inclined  to  douI)t  that  the  king 
was  truly  absolute.  The  most  remarkable  instances  of  arbi- 
trary power  exerted  upon  the  Franks  are  in  the  imposition  of 
taxes.  These,  as  has  been  said  in  another  note,  were  repug- 
nant to  the  whole  genius  of  barbarian  society.  AVe  find, 
however,  that  on  the  death  of  Theodel)ert,  king  of  Austrasia, 
in  547.  the  Franks  murdered  one  Parthenius,  evidently  a 
Roman,  and  a  minister  of  the  late  king  —  "pro  eo  rpiod  iia 
tributa  antedicti  regis  tempore  intlixesset."  (Greg.  Tur.  lib. 
iii.  c.  3G.)  "Whether  these  tril)utes  continued  afterwards  to 
be  paid  we  do  not  read.  Chilperic,  the  most  oppressive  of 
his  line,  at  a  later  period,  in  57*J,  laid  a  tax  on  freehold  lands 
—  "  ut  jiossessor  de  terra  propria  am[)horam  vini  per  arijien- 
nem  redderet."  (Id.  lib.  v  c.  21>.)  It  is,  indeed,  possible 
that  this  affected  only  the  Romans,  though  the  language  of 
the  historian  is  general  —  "  descrii)tiones  novas  et  graves  in 
omni  regno  suo  fieri  jussit."  A  revolt  broke  out  in  conse- 
quence at  Limoges  ;  but  the  inhabitants  of  that  city  were 
Roman.  Chilperic  put  this  down  liy  the  help  of  his  faithful 
Antrustions  —  ••  unde  multum  molestiis  rex,  dirigens  de  latere 
suo  personas,  immensis  damnis  populum  attiixit,  suppliciisque 
conterruit."  Mr.  Spence  (Laws  of  Modern  Europe,  p.  2G9) 
is  clearly  of  opinion,  against  Montestpiieu,  who  confines  this 
tax  to  the  Romans,  that  it  comprehended  the  Franks  also,  and 
was  in  the  nature  of  the  indiction,  or  laml-tax,  imposed  on  the 
subjects  of  the  Roman  empire  by  an  assessment  renewed 
every  fifteen  years;  and  this,  perhaps,  on  the  whole,  is  the 
more  probable  hypothesis  of  the  two.  Mr.  S.  says  (p.  2G7) 
that  lands  subject  to  tribute  still  continued  liable  when  in 
tlie  possession  of  a  Frank.  Tiiis  is  possible,  but  he  refers  to 
texts  wliicii  do  not  prove  it. 

The  next  passage  which  I  shall  quote  is  more  unequivocal. 
Tin-  death  of  Cliilperic  exposed  his  instruments  of  tyranny, 
jL-i  it  had  Partheniu-i  in  Australia,  to  the  vengeance  of  an  op- 
])re>sed  people.  FiedegoMile,  though  she  escaped  condign 
punishment  herself,  could  not  screen  these  vile  ministers:  — 
*•  llalieliat  tune  temporis  secinn  Audonem  judicem,  (pii  ei 
teiiqiore  regis  in  multis  consenseral  nialis.  Ips*;  eniin  cum 
Muiiujjolo  praifecto  multos  de  Francis,  qui  tenqjorc  Cliilde- 


298  POWER  OF  THE  KINGS.  Notes  to 

berti  regis  senioris  ingenui  fuerant,  publico  tribute  subegit. 
Qui,  post  mortem  regis  Chilperici,  ab  ipsis  spoilatus  ac 
denudatus  est,  ut  nihil  ei,  praster  quod  super  se  auferre  potuit, 
remaneret.  Domos  enim  ejus  incendio  subdiderunt ;  abstulis- 
sent  utique  et  ipsam  vitara,  ni  cum  regina  ecclesiam  expetis- 
set."  (Lib.  vii.  c.  15.)  The  word  ingenui,  in  the  above 
passage,  means  the  superior  class  —  alodial  landholders  or 
beneficiaries,  as  distinguished  from  the  class  named  lidi,  who 
are  also  pei-haps  sometimes  called  trihutariij  as  well  as  the 
Romans,  and  from  whom  a  public  census,  as  some  think,  was 
due.  We  may  remark  here,  that  the  removing  of  a  number 
of  Franks  from  their  own  place  as  ingenui,  to  that  of  tribu- 
taries, was  a  particular  act  of  oppression,  and  does  not  stand 
quite  on  the  footing  of  a  general  law.  The  passage  in  Greg- 
ory is  chiefly  important  as  it  shows  that  the  ingenui  were  not 
legally  subject  to  public  tribute. 

M.  Guizot  has  adduced  a  constitution  of  Clotaire  II.  in 
615,  as  a  proof  that  endeavors  had  been  made  by  the  kings 
to  impose  undue  taxes.  This  contains  the  following  article : 
"  Ut  ubicunque  census  novus  impie  additus  est,  et  a  populo 
reclamatur,  justa  inquisitione  misericorditer  emendetur/'  (C. 
8.)  But  does  this  warrant  the  inference  that  any  tax  had 
been  imposed  on  the  free-born  Frank  ?  "  Census  "  is  gener- 
ally understood  to  be  the  capitation  paid  by  the  trihutarii, 
and  the  words  imply  a  local  exaction  rather  than  a  national 
imposition  by  the  royal  authority.  It  is  not  even  manifest  that 
this  provision  was  founded  exclusively  on  any  oppression  of 
the  crown  ;  several  other  articles  in  this  celebrated  law  are 
extensively  remedial,  and  forbid  all  undue  spoliation  of  the 
weak.  But  if  we  should  incline  to  Guizot's  interpretation,  it 
will  not  prove,  of  course,  the  right  of  the  kings  to  impose 
taxes  on  the  Franks,  since  that  to  which  it  adverts  is  called 
census  novus  impie  additus. 

The  inference  which  I  formerly  drew  from  the  language 
of  the  laws  is  inconclusive.  Bouquet,  in  the  Recueil  des 
Historiens  (vol.  iv.),  admits  only  seven  laws  during  the  Mer- 
ovingian period,  differing  from  Baluze  as  to  the  particu- 
lar sovereigns  by  whom  several  of  them  were  enacted.  Of 
these  the  first  is  by  Childebert  I.,  king  of  Paris,  in  532,  ac- 
cording to  him  ;  by  Childebert  II.  of  Austrasia  according 
to  Baluze,  which,  as  the  date  is  Cologne,  and  several  Aus- 
trasian  cities  are  mentioned  in  it  which  never  belonged  to  the 


Chap.  n.  POWER   OF  THE  KINGS.  299 

fii'st  Chiklebert,  I  cannot  Imt  think  more  likely.  This  con- 
stitution Ims  ii/iii  ctim  iiosfn's  optlinatlhus,  and  coiirenif.  iiiiu 
leuilis  iiostris.  And  tht'  expressions  lead  to  two  inferences ; 
first,  that  the  :L-isenibly  of  the  field  of  March  was,  in  that  age, 
aniuially  held ;  secondly,  that  it  was  customary  to  send  round 
to  ihe  people  the  determinations  of  tiie  ojjtimates  in  this 
council :  —  "  Cum  nos  umues  calendas  !Martias  de  quascunque 
conditiones  una  cum  ojitimatibus  nostris  pertraetavimus,  ad 
unumqucnuiue  nolitiam  volunnis  pcrvenire."  The  grammai' 
is  wretched,  but  such  is  the  evident  sense. 

The  second  law,  as  it  is  called,  is  an  agreement  between 
Childebert  and  Clotaire  ;  the  fii-st  of  each  name  according  to 
Bouquet,  the  second  according  to  Baluze.  This  wants  all 
enacting  words  except  "  Decretum  est."  The  third  is  au  oi'- 
dinance  of  Childebert  for  abolishing  idolatrous  rites  and  keep- 
ing festivals.  It  is  an  enforcement  of  ecclesiasticid  regula- 
tions, not  perhaps  reckoned  at  that  time  to  require  legislative 
sanction.  The  fourth,  of  Clotaire  I.  or  Clotaire  II.,  begins 
"  Decretum  est,"  and  has  no  other  word  of  enactment.  But 
this  does  not  exclude  the  probability  of  consent  by  the 
leudes.  Clotaire  I.,  in  another  constitution,  speaks  authori- 
tatively. But  it  will  be  found,  on  reading  it,  that  none  ex- 
cept his  Roman  subjects  are  concerned.  The  sixth  is  merely 
a  precept  of  Gontran,  directed  to  the  bishops  and  judges,  en- 
joining them  to  maintain  the  observance  of  the  Lord's  day 
and  other  feasts.  The  last  is  the  edict  of  Clotaire  II.  in 
Gl.j,  already  quoted,  and  here  we  read,  — '' Ilanc  delibera- 
tionem  quam  cum  pontificibus  vel  tarn  magnis  viris  o[)timati- 
bus,  aut  fi(l<dibus  nostris  in  synodali  concilio  instituimus." 

After  01. ii  no  law  is  extant  enacted  in  any  of  the  Frank 
kingdoms  before  the  reign  of  Pepin.  This,  however,  cannot 
of  itself  warrant  the  assertion  that  none  were  enacted  which 
do  not  remain.  It  is  more  surprising,  perhaps,  tliat  even  a 
few  have  been  preserved.  The  language  of  Childebert 
al>ove  cited  leads  to  the  belief  that,  in  the  sixth  century, 
whatever  we  may  suppose  as  to  the  next,  an  assemldy  with 
powers  of  legislation  was  regularly  held  by  the  Frank  sov- 
ereigns. Nothing,  on  tlie  wiiole,  warrants  the  suji|)o-iti()ii 
that  the  three  generations  after  Clovis  po.s.sessed  an  arknowl- 
edgcd  rigiil,  either  of  Icgishiting  for  their  Frank  subjects,  or 
inqiosiug  luxes  upon  them.  But  after  the  assiussination  of 
Sigebert,  under  the  walls  of  Touruay,  in  .375,  the  Austrasian 


300  FEENCH  NOBILITY.  Notes  to 

nobles  began  to  display  a  steady  resistance  to  tlie  authority 
which  his  widow  Brunehaut  endeavored  to  exercise  in  her 
son's  name.  This,  after  forty  years,  terminated  in  her  death, 
and  in  the  reunion  of  the  Frank  monarchy,  with  a  much 
more  aristocratic  character  than  before,  under  the  second 
Clotaire.  It  is  a  revolution  to  which  we  have  ah*eady  drawn 
attention  in  the  note  on  Brunehaut. 


Note  VIII.     Page  160. 

"  The  existence,"  says  Savigny,  "  of  an  original  nobility, 
as  a  particular  patrician  order,  and  not  as  a  class  indefinitely 
distinguished  by  their  wealth  and  nobility,  cannot  be  ques- 
tioned. It  is  difficult  to  say  from  what  origin  this  distinction 
may  have  proceeded ;  whether  it  was  connected  with  the 
services  of  religion,  or  with  the  possession  of  the  heritable 
offices  of  counts.  We  may  affirm,  however,  with  certainty, 
that  the  honor  enjoyed  was  merely  personal,  and  conferred 
no  preponderance  in  the  political  or  judicial  systems."  (Ch. 
iv.  p.  172,  English  translation.)  This  admits  all  the  theory 
to  which  I  have  inclined  in  the  text,  namely,  the  non-exist- 
ence of  a  privileged  order,  though  antiquity  of  family  was 
in  high  respect.  The  eorl  of  Anglo-Saxon  law  was,  it  mny 
be  said,  distinguished  by  certain  privileges  from  the  ceorl. 
Why  could  not  the  same  have  been  the  case  with  the 
Franks  ?  We  may  answer  that  it  is  by  the  laws  and  records 
of  those  times  that  we  prove  the  former  distinction  in  Eng- 
land, and  it  is  by  the  absence  of  all  such  proof  that  the  non- 
existence of  such  a  distinction  in  France  has  been  presumed. 
But  if  the  lidi,  of  whom  we  so  often  read,  were  Franks  by 
origin,  and  moreover  personally  free,  which,  to  a  certain  ex- 
tent, we  need  not  deny,  they  will  be  the  corresponding  rank 
to  the  Anglo-Saxon  ceorl,  superior,  as,  from  whatever  cir- 
cumstances, the  latter  may  have  been  in  his  social  degree. 
All  the  Franci  ingenui  will  thus  have  constituted  a  class  of 
nobility  ;  in  no  other  sense,  however,  than  all  men  of  white 
race  constitute  such  a  class  in  those  of  the  United  States 
where  slavery  is  abolished,  which  is  not  what  we  usually  mean 
by  the  word.  In  some  German  nations  we  have,  indeed,  a 
distinct  nobility  of  blood.  The  Bavarians  had  five  families, 
for  the  death  of  a  member  of  whom  a  double  composition 


Cn.vi-.  11.  FRENCU  NOBILITY.  301 

was  paid.  They  hail  oni',  the  Agilolfungi,  whose  composition 
wa.>  tourtbUl.  Troja  also  finds  proof  of  two  chisses  among 
the  Alemanns  (v.  iCS).  But  we  are  speaking  only  of  tlia 
Franks,  a  cognate  people,  indeed,  to  the  Saxons  and  Ale- 
mjums,  but  not  the  same,  and  whose  origin  is  not  that  of  a 
pure  single  tribe.  The  Franks  were  collectively  like  a  new 
people  in  comparison  with  some  others  of  Teutonic  blood.  It 
does  not,  theretbre.  a})pear  to  me  so  untiucstionable  as  to  Sa- 
vigny  tiiat  a  considerable  number  of  famiUes  formed  a  patri- 
cian order  in  the  French  mmuuvliy,  without  reference  to  he- 
reditary possessions  or  hereditary  ollice. 

A  writer  of  considerable  learning  and  ingenuity,  but  not 
always  attentive  to  the  strict  meaning  of  what  he  quotes,  has 
found  a  proof  of  family  precedence  among  the  Franks  in  the 
words  crinosiis  and  crittitus,  employed  in  the  Salic  law  and 
in  an  edict  of  Childebert.  (^Nleyer,  Institut.  Judiciaires,  vol. 
i.  p.  104.)  This  privilege  of  wearing  long  hair  he  supposes 
peculiar  to  certain  families,  and  ol)serves  that  crinosus  is  op- 
posed to  ionsoratus.  But  why  should  we  not  believe  that  all 
superior  freemen,  that  is,  all  Franks,  whose  composition  was 
of  two  hundred  solidi,  wore  this  long  hair,  though  it  might  be 
an  honor  denied  to  the  lidi  i  Gibert,  in  a  memoir  on  the 
Merovingians  (Acad,  des  Inscript.  xxx.  583),  quotes  a  pas- 
sajie  of  Tacitus,  conccrnini;  the  manner  in  which  the  nation 
of  the  Suevi  wore  their  hair,  from  whom  the  Franks  are  sup- 
posed by  him  to  be  descended.  And  there  is  at  least  some- 
thing remarkable  in  the  language  of  Tacitus,  which  indicates 
a  distinction  between  the  royal  family  and  other  freemen,  as 
well  as  between  these  and  the  servile  class.  The  words  have 
not  been,  I  think,  often  (pioted  :  —  "  Nunc  de  Suevis  dicen- 
dum  est.  quorum  non  mia  ut  Cattorum  Tencterorumque  gens; 
majorem  fiiim  (Ji  rmaiiiic  parli-m  ol)tinent,  propriis  adhuc  na- 
tionibus  discreti,  quamquam  in  communi  Suevi  dicuntur. 
In-igne  gentis  obli(|uare  crint-m,  nodo(|ue  substringere.  Sic 
Su<,'vi  a  Cicteris  (jirmanis,  sic  Suevorum  ingenui  a  servis 
sepanmtur.  In  aliis  gentibus,  seu  cognatione  aliciua  Suevo- 
rum, seu,  quod  accidit,  imitatione,  raruna  et  intra  juvcnta^  spa- 
tium,  apurl  Suevos  us(jue  ad  canitiem,  horicnt<'ni  capillum 
retnj  scqmnitur,  ac  sirpe  in  ipso  solo  vertice  religant  ;  jiri/t- 
cipes  et  ornaliorem  huhent."  (])e  ^lor.  German,  c.  3.S.)  This 
hi«t  fxprf-^ion  may  account  for  tlic  word  rrinltns  Itcing  some- 
tiujes  applied   to  tlie    royal  lianily,   ad   it   were  exchi.-ively, 


302  FRENCH  NOBILITY.  Notes  to 

sometimes  to  the  Frank  nation  or  its  freemen.^  The  refer- 
ences of  M.  Meyer  are  so  far  from  sustaining  his  theory  that 
they  rather  lead  me  to  an  opposite  conclusion. 

M.  Naudet  (in  Me  moires  de  1' Academic  des  Inscriptions, 
Nouvelle  Serie,  vol.  viii.  p.  502)  enters  upon  an  elaborate  dis- 
cussion of  the  state  of  persons  under  the  first  dynasty.  He 
distinguishes,  of  course,  the  ingenui  from  the  lidi.  But 
among  the  former  he  conceives  that  there  were  two  classes : 
the  former  absolutely  free  as  to  their  persons,  valued  in  their 
weregild  at  200  solidi,  meeting  in  the  county  mallus.  and 
sometimes  in  the  national  assembly,  —  in  a  word,  the  populus 
of  the  Frank  monarchy ;  the  latter  valued,  as  he  supposes,  at 
100  solidi,  living  under  the  protection  or  mundehurde  of  some 
rich  man,  and  though  still  free,  and  said  to  be  ingemdli 
ordine  servientes,  not  very  distinguishable  at  present  from  the 
lidi.  I  do  not  know  that  this  theory  has  been  countenanced 
by  other  writers.  But  even  if  we  admit  it,  the  higher  class 
could  not  properly  be  denominated  an  hereditary  nobility ; 
their  privileges  would  be  those  of  better  fortune,  which  had 
rescued  them  from  the  dependence  into  which,  from  one  cause 
or  another,  their  fellow-citizens  had  fallen.  The  Franks  in 
general  are  called  by  Guizot  une  noblesse  en  decadence  ;  the 
leudes  one  en  progres.  But  he  maintains  that  from  the  fifth 
to  the  eleventh  age  there  existed  no  real  nobility  of  birth. 
In  this,  however,  he  goes  much  further  than  Mably,  who  does 
not  scruple  to  admit  an  hereditary  nobility  in  the  time  of 
Charlemagne,  and  probably  further  than  can  be  reasonably 
allowed,  especially  if  the  eleventh  century  is  to  be  understood 
inclusively.  In  that  century  we  shall  see  that  the  nobles 
formed  a  distinct  order ;  and  I  am  much  inclined  to  believe 
that  this  was  the  case  as  soon  as  feudal  tenure  became  gen- 
eral, which  was  at  least  as  early  as  the  tenth, 

M.  Lehuerou  denies  any  hereditary  nobility  during  the 
Merovingian  period,  at  least,  of  French  history  :  "  II  n'exis- 
tait  done  point  de  noblesse  dans  le  sens  moderne  du  mot, 
puisqu'il  n'y  avait  point  d'heredite,  et  puisque  I'heredite,  si 
elle  se  produisait  quelquefois,  etait  purement  accidentelle ; 

1  The  royal  family  seem  also  to  have  de  his  fieri  debeat ;  et  utrum  incisa  cse- 

wom  longer  hair  than  the  others.     Chil-  sarie,   ut    reliqua  plebs   habeantur.   an 

debert  proposed  to  Clotaire,  as  we  read  certe  his  interfectis  regnum  gernumi  nos- 

in   Gregory  of  Tours  (iii.  18),  that   the  tri  inter  nosmetipsos  aequalitate  habita 

children  of  their  brother  Clotlimer  should  dividatur." 
be  either  cropped  or  put  to  death  :  "  quid 


Chap.  II.  BENEFICES.  303 

niais  il  y  avait  line  aristocratie  mobile,  cliangcante,  variable 
an  gre  des  accidents  et  des  caprices  de  la  vie  barbare,  et 
neaiiinoin>  en  possession  de  veritables  privileges  qii'i!  fliut  ce 
garder  de  nieeunnaitre.  Cette  aristocratic  etait  pliitot  celle 
des  titres,  des  places,  et  des  honneurs,  que  celle  de  la  nais- 
sance.  qiioiipie  celle-ci  n'y  tut  pas  etrangcre.  Elle  etait  plus 
dans  le  present,  et  nioins  dans  le  passe  ;  elle  empruntait  plus 
h  la  puissance  actuelle  qu'a  celle  des  souvenirs  ;  mais  elle 
ne  s'en  detacijait  pas  raoins  nettement  des  couches  inferieui'es 
de  la  population,  et  notaniment  de  la  foule  de  ceux  doiit  la 
noble>se  ne  consistait  uue  dans  leur  ingenuite."  (Inst.  Caro- 
ling, p.  452.) 

Note  IX.     Page  162. 

The  nature  of  benefices  has  been  very  well  discus-^ed, 
like  everything  else,  by  M.  Guizot,  in  his  E.ssai  sur  I'Hist. 
de  France,  p.  120.  He  agrees  with  me  in  the  two  main 
positions  —  that  benefices,  considered  generally,  never  passed 
through  the  sujiposed  stage  of  grants  revocable  at  pleasure, 
and  that  they  were  sometimes  granted  in  inheritance  from 
the  sixth  century  downwards.  This,  however,  was  rather  the 
exception,  he  supposes,  than  the  rule.  "  We  cannot  doubt 
that,  under  Charlemagne,  most  benefices  were  granted  only 
for  life"  (p.  140).  Louis  the  Debonair  endeavored  to  act  on 
he  same  policy,  but  his  eftbrts  were  unsuccessful.  Heredi- 
tary grants  became  the  rule,  as  is  proved  l)y  many  charters 
of  his  (iwn  and  Ciiarles  the  Bald.  Finally  he  tells  us,  the 
latter  prince,  in  877,  empowered  hhfideles  to  dispose  of  their 
benefices  as  they  thought  fit,  provided  it  were  to  persons  capa- 
ble of  serving  tiie  estate.  But  this  is  too  largely  expressed; 
the  jKJwer  given  is  to  those  vassals  who  might  desire  to  take 
up  their  abode  in  a  cloister;  and  it  could  only  be  exercised 
in  favor  of  a  son  or  other  kinsman.^  But  llie  riglit  of  in- 
heritanct;  had  ]u-olial)ly  been  established  before.  Still,  so 
deeply  was  the  notion  of  a  personal  relation  to  the  grantor 
implanted  in  flu-  minds  cjf  men,  that  it  was  common,  iiotwith- 
htanding  the  ljnge>t  terms  of  inlieritance  in  a  grant,  for  the 
new  tenant  to  olitain  a  confirmation  irom  the  crown.     This 

•  Si  allquU  ex   flili-litmii  no«triii  post  (jul  rcipulilioeD  prodosgo  vnlciit.  suos  ho- 

oViitiim    ti<»(ruiii.   JM   i-t   nonfro  aiiioro  nuri-H  proiit  iii«-liiifi  voliicrit  ci  viili-iit  pUi- 

coiii|iiiiii'tu«.  >ii-<'iil'i  rciiiiiiiiiiru  volucrlt,  clUire.  —  Script.  Kcr.  Oull.  vii.  701. 
et  fllium  vi'l  tuli'iii  propliii{uuiu  liiibuc-rlt 


304  BEXEFICES.  Notes  to 

might  also  be  for  the  sake  of  security.  And  this  is  precisely 
the  renewal  of  homage  and  fealty  on  a  change  of  tenancy, 
which  belonged  to  the  more  matured  stage  of  the  feudal 
polity. 

Mr.  Allen  observes,  with  respect  to  the  fonnula  of  INIar- 
culfus  quoted  in  my  note,  p.  161:  —  "Some  authors  have 
considered  this  as  a  precedent  for  the  grant  of  an  hereditary 
benefice.  But  it  is  only  necessary  to  read  with  attention  the 
act  itself  to  perceive  that  what  it  creates  is  not  an  hereditary 
benefice,  but  an  alodial  estate.  It  is  vicAved  in  this  light  in 
his  (Bignon's)  notes  on  a  subsequent  formula  (sect.  17),  con- 
firmatory of  what  had  been  done  under  the  preceding  one, 
and  it  is  only  from  inadvertence  that  it  could  have  been  ( on- 
sidered  in  a  different  point  of  view."  (Inquiry  into  Royal 
Prerogative,  Appendix,  p.  47.)  But  Bignon  took  for  grant- 
ed that  benefices  were  only  for  term  of  life,  and  consequently 
that  words  of  inheritance,  in  the  age  of  Marculfus,  implied 
an  alodial  grant.  The  question  is,  "What  constituted  a  bene- 
fice ?  Was  it  not  a  grant  by  favor  of  the  kmg  or  other 
lord  ?  If  the  words  used  in  the  formula  of  Marculfus  are 
inconsistent  with  a  beneficiary  property,  we  must  give  up 
the  inference  from  the  treaty  of  Andely,  and  from  all  other 
phrases  which  have  seemed  to  convey  hereditary  benefices. 
It  is  true  that  the  formula  in  Marculfus  gives  a  larger  power 
of  alienation  than  belonged  afterwards  to  fiefs ;  but  did  it  put 
an  end  to  the  peculiar  obligation  of  the  holder  of  the  bene- 
fice towai'ds  the  crown  ?  It  does  not  appear  to  me  unreason- 
able to  suppose  an  estate  so  conferred  to  have  been  strictly 
a  benefice,  according  to  the  notions  of  the  seventh  century. 

Subinfeudation  could  hardly  exist  to  any  considerable  de- 
gree until  benefices  became  hereditary.  But  as  soon  as  that 
change  took  place,  the  principle  was  very  natural  and  sure 
to  suggest  itself.  It  prodigiously  strengthened  the  aristoc- 
racy, of  which  they  could  not  but  be  aware  ;  and  they  had 
acquired  such  extensive  possessions  out  of  the  royal  domains, 
that  they  could  well  afford  to  take  a  rent  for  them  in  iron 
instead  of  silver.  Charlemagne,  as  Guizot  justly  conceives, 
strove  to  counteract  the  growing  feudal  spirit  by  drawing 
closer  the  bonds  between  the  sovereign  and  the  subject.  He 
demanded  an  oath  of  allegiance,  as  William  afterwards  did 
in  England,  from  the  vassals  of  mesne  lords.  But  after  his 
death,  and  after  the  complete  establishment  of  an  hereditary 


Chap.  II.  SUBINFEUDATION.  305 

right  in  the  {rrauts  of  the  crown,  it  Avas  utterly  impossible  to 
prevent  the  general  usage  of  subinfeudation. 

]Mal)ly  ilistinguishes  the  lands  granted  by  Charles  iNIartel 
to  his  German  followers  from  the  benefices  of  the  early 
kings,  reserving  to  the  former  the  name  of  fiefs.  These  he 
conceives  to  have  been  granted  only  for  life,  and  to  have 
involved,  for  the  first  lime,  the  obligation  of  military  service. 
(Observations  sur  I'llist.  de  France,  vol.  i.  p.  32.)  But  as 
they  were  not  styled  fiefs  so  early,  but  only  benefices,  this 
distinction  seems  likely  to  deceive  the  reader ;  aiid  the  oath 
of  fidelity  taken  by  the  Antrustion,  which,  though  personal, 
could  not  be  a  weixker  oliligation  after  he  had  acquired  a 
benefice,  carries  a  very  strong  presumption  that  military  ser- 
vice, at  le;vst  in  defensive  wars,  not  always  distinguishable 
from  wars  to  revenge  a  wrong,  as  most  are  presumed  to  be, 
was  demanded  by  the  usages  and  moral  sentiments  of  the 
society.  We  have  not  a  great  deal  of  testimony  as  to  the 
grants  of  Charles  Martel ;  but  in  the  ca[)itularies  of  Charle- 
magne it  is  evident  that  all  holders  of  benefices  >vere  bound 
to  follow  the  sovereign  to  the  field. 

M.  fiut-rard  (Cartulaire  de  Chartres,  i,  23)  is  of  opinion 
that,  though  l)enefices  were  ultimately  Hefs,  in  the  first  stage 
of  the  monarchy  they  were  only  usufructs ;  and  the  w'ord 
will  not  be  clearlv  found  in  the  restrained  sense  during  that 
perio<l.  "  Cette  ditlcrence  entre  deux  institutions  nees  I'une 
de  I'autre.  quoique  assez  delicate,  etait  essentielle.  Elle  ne 
pourrait  etre  meconnue  que  par  ceux  qui  considdreraient 
seulement.  les  benefices  a  la  fin.  ct  les  fiefs  au  commencement 
de  leur  existence;  alors  en  effet  les  uns  et  les  autres  se  con- 
fondaient."  That  they  were  not  mere  usufructs,  even  at 
first,  appcjirs  to  me  more  probable. 

Note  X.     Page  103. 

Somner  says  that  he  has  not  found  the  word  feudum  ante- 
rior to  the  year  lOOO;  ami  ^luralori,  a  still  greater  autlioiity, 
doubt-i  whctiier  it  was  used  so  early.  I  have,  however, 
obx-rvi-d  tin-  wonls  ft-uni  and  fcvum,  which  are  manifestly 
corruptions  of  fi-udum,  in  .■»everal  ciiarters  about  'JOn.  (Vais- 
settf,  Hist,  de  Laiiguedoc,  t.  ii.  Appendix,  p.  1<I7,  128,  et 
alibi.)  Some  of  tlu-se  fiefs  appear  not  to  have  been  heredi- 
tary.     I'ul.  independently  of   positive    instances,   can    it    be 

v'..i,.  I.  «!0 


306  SUBINFEUDATION.  Notes  to 

doubted  that  some  word  of  barbarous  original  must  have  an- 
swered, in  the  vernacular  languages,  to  the  Latin  beneficium  ? 
See  Du  Cange,  v.  Feudum.  Sir  F.  Palgrave  answers  this 
by  producing  the  word  Jekn.  (English  Commonwealth,  ii. 
208.)  And  though  M.  Thierry  asserts  (Recits  des  Temps 
Merovingiens,  i.  245)  that  this  is  modern  German,  he  seems 
to  be  altogether  mistaken.  (Palgrave,  ibid.)  But  when 
Sir  F.  Palgrave  proceeds  to  say  —  "  The  essential  and  fun- 
damental principle  of  a  territorial  fief  or  feud  is,  that  the 
land  is  held  by  a  limited  or  conditional  estate  —  the  property 
being  in  the  lord,  and  the  usufruct  in  the  tenant,"  we  must 
think  this  not  a  very  exact  definition  of  feuds  in  their  ma- 
ture state,  however  it  might  apply  to  the  early  benefices  for 
life.  The  property,  by  feudal  law,  was,  I  conceive,  strictly 
in  the  tenant ;  what  else  do  we  mean  by  fee-simple  ?  Mili- 
tary service  in  most  cases,  and  always  fealty,  were  due  to 
the  lord,  and  an  abandonment  of  the  latter  might  cause  for- 
feiture of  the  land ;  but  the  tenant  was  not  less  the  owner, 
and  might  destroy  it  or  render  it  unprofitable  if  he  pleased. 

Feudum  Sir  F.  Palgrave  boldly  derives  from  emphyteu- 
sis ;  and,  in  fact,  by  processes  familiar  to  etymologists,  that 
is,  cutting  off  the  head  and  legs,  and  extracting  the  back- 
bone, it  may  thence  be  exhibited  in  the  old  form,  feum,  or 
fevum.  M.  Thierry,  however,  thinks  feh,  that  is,  fee  or  pay, 
and  odh,  property,  to  be  the  true  root.  (Lettres  sur  I'Hist. 
de  France,  Lettre  x.)  Guizot  inclines  to  the  same  deriva- 
tion ;  and  it  is,  in  fact,  given  by  Du  Cange  and  others.  The 
derivation  of  alod  from  all  and  odh  seems  to  be  analogous  ; 
and  the  Avord  udaller,  for  the  freeholder  of  the  Shetland  and 
Orkney  Isles,  strongly  confirms  this  derivation,  being  only 
the  two  radical  elements  reversed,  as  I  remember  to  have 
seen  observed  in  Gilbert  Stuart's  View  of  Society.  A  char- 
ter of  Charles  the  Fat  is  suspected  on  account  of  the  word 
feudum,  which  is  at  least  of  very  rare  occurrence  till  late  in 
the  tenth  century.  The  great  objection  to  emphyteusis  is, 
that  a  fief  is  a  different  thing.  Sir  F.  Palgrave,  indeed, 
contends  that  an  "  emphyteusis  "  is  often  called  a  "  precaria," 
and  that  the  word  "  precaria "  was  a  synonym  of  "  benefi- 
cium," as  beneficium  was  of  "  feudum."  But  does  it  appear 
from  the  ancient  use  of  the  words  "  precaria  "  and  "  benefi- 
cium "  that  they  were  convertible,  as  the  former  is  said,  by 
Mui'atori  and   Lehuerou,  to  have  been  with  emphyteusis  ? 


Chap.  II.  CHANGE  OF  TENURES.  307 

(Mnrat.  Antiq.  Ttal.  Di*>.  xxxvi.  Leluiorou,  Inst.  Caroling. 
p.  183.)  TIr'  tonant  by  emphyteusis,  whom  wo  find  in  the 
Coiles  of  Theoilosius  and  Justinian,  was  little  more  than  a 
colnims,  a  deini-serf  attaehetl  to  the  soil,  thougli  incapable  of 
being  dispossessed.  Is  this  like  the  holder  of  a  benefice,  the 
progenitor  of  tlie  great  feudal  aristocracy  ?  How  can  we 
compare  emphyteusis  with  beneficium  without  remembering 
that  one  was  commoidy  a  grant  for  a  fixed  return  in  value, 
answering  to  the  "  terr:v>  ccnsuales  "  of  later  times,  and  tlie 
latter,  as  the  wonl  implies,  a  free  donation  with  no  condition 
but  gratitu<le  and  tididity  ?  The  word  prernn'a  is  for  the 
most  part  applied  to  ecclesiastical  property  which,  by  some 
usurpation,  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  laymen.  These  af- 
terwards, by  way  of  compromise,  wei'e  permitted  to  continue 
as  tenants  of  the  church  tor  a  limited  term,  generally  of  life, 
on  payment  of  a  tixed  rate.  ^larculfus,  however,  gives  a 
form  in  which  the  grantor  of  the  precaria  appears  to  be  a 
layman.  Military  service  was  not  conti^mplated  in  the  em- 
phyteusis or  the  |>recaria,  nor  were  eitlier  of  them  perpetui- 
ties ;  at  least  this  was  not  their  common  condition.  ]\Ieyer 
derives  feudum  from  Jirles,  (pioting  Almoin  :  "  Leudibussuis 
injide  disposuit."     (Inst.  Judic.  i.  187.) 

Note  XL     Pages  1G5,  167 

M.  Guizot,  with  the  highest  probability,  refers  the  conver- 
sion of  alodial  into  feudal  lands  to  the  principle  of  commenda- 
tion. (Essais  sur  I'llist.  de  France,  p.  1G6.)  Though  orig- 
inally tills  had  no  relation  to  land,  but  created  a  merely  per- 
sonal tie  —  fidelity  in  return  for  protection  —  it  is  easy  to 
conceive  that  the  alodialist  who  obtained  this  privilege,  as  it 
might  ju-tly  apju-ar  in  an  ag(!  of  rapine,  must  often  do  so  by 
subjecting  iiin>-t'lf"  U)  the  law  of  tenure  —  a  law  less  burden- 
some at  a  time  when  warfare,  if  not  always  defensive,  as  it 
was  against  the  Normans,  was  always  carried  on  in  the 
neighborhood,  at  little  expense  beyond  the  ravages  that 
might  attend  its  want  of  suricess.  Raynouard  has  |)ublished 
a  curious  p;u«isage  from  the  Life  of  St.  Gerald,  a  count  of  Au- 
rilhu',  where  he  is  sjiid  to  have  refused  to  subject  his  ahtdial 
laml'  to  the  rluke  of  Guienn*-,  with  the  cxce|ition  of  one 
firm,  jteculiarly  situateil.  "  Erat  enim  semolim,  iutir  pcssi- 
mos  vicinos,  longe  a  caeteris  disparatum."     Ilis  oilier  lands 


308  PERSONAL  COMMENDATION.  Notes  to 

wei^e  so  situated  that  he  was  able  to  defend  them.  Nothing 
can  better  explain  the  principle  which  riveted  the  feudal 
yoke  upon  alodialists.  (Hist,  du  Droit  Municipal,  ii.  261.) 
In  my  text,  though  M.  Guizot  has  done  me  the  honor  to 
say,  "  M.  Moutlosier  et  M.  Hallam  en  out  mieux  demele  la 
natui-e  et  les  causes,"  the  subject  is  not  sufficiently  disen- 
tangled, and  the  territorial  character  which  commendation 
ultimately  assumed  is  too  much  separated  from  the  personal. 
The  letter  preceded  even  the  conquest  of  Gaul,  both  among 
the  barbarian  invaders  themselves  and  the  provincial  sub- 
jects,^ and  was  a  sort  of  clientela  ;  ^  but  the  former  deserves 
also  the  name  of  commendation,  though  the  Franks  had  a 
word  of  their  own  to  express  it.  We  find  in  Marculfus  the 
form  by  which  the  king  took  an  ecclesiastical  person,  with 
his  property  and  followers,  under  his  own  mundeburde,  or 
safeguard.  (Lib.  i.  c.  44.)  This  was  equivalent  to  com- 
mendation, or  rather  anotlier  word  for  it ;  except  as  one 
rather  expresses  the  act  of  the  tenant,  the  other  that  of  the 
lord.  Letters  of  safeguard  were  not  by  any  means  confined 
to  the  church.  They  were  frequent  as  long  as  the  crown 
had  any  power  to  protect,  and  revived  again  in  the  decline  of 
the  feudal  system.  Nor  were  they  limited  to  the  crown  ;  we 
have  the  form  by  which  the  poor  might  place  themselves  un- 
der the  mundeburde  of  the  rich,  still  being  free,  "  ingenuili 
ordine  servientes."  Formulae  Veteres  Bignonii,  c.  44  ;  vide 
Naudet,  ubi  supra.  They  were  then  even  sometimes  called, 
as  the  latter  supposes,  lidi  or  liti,  so  that  a  freeman,  even  of 

1  M.  Lehuerou  has  gone  very  deeply  plication  of  the  origin  of  feudal  polity, 
into  the  »;!mrf(«»7,  or  personal  safeguard,  which  was  in  no   degree  of  a  domestic 
by  which  the  inferior   class  among  the  character.     The  utmost  they  can  allow 
Gei-mans  were  cornmnnded  to  a  lord,  and  is,   that   territorial  jurisdiction  was  ex- 
placed  under  his  protection,  in  return  tended  to  feudal  vassals,  hy  analogy  to 
for  their  own  fidelity  and  service.    (Insti-  tliat  which   the  patron,  or  chief  of  the 
tutions  Carolingiennes,  liv.  i.  ch.  i.  §  2.)  mundimn,  had  exercised  over  those  who 
It  is  a  subject,  as  he  conceives,  of  the  recognized  him  as  protector,  as  well  as 
liiglu'st   importance   in   these   inquiries,  over  liis  family  and  servants.     There  is 
lieing.    in   fact,    the   real   origin   of   the  nevertheless,  perhaps,  a  larger  basis  of 
feudal  polity   afterwards   eskiblished   in  truth  in  M.  Lehvierou's  system  tlian  they 
Europe;  though,  from  the  circumstances  admit,   though  I  do  not  conceive  it  to 
of  ancient  Geraiany,  it  was  of  necessity  explain  the  whole  feudal  system, 
a  personal  and  not  a  territorial  vassalage.  2  Garnier  has  happily  adduced  a  very 
It  fell  in  very  naturally  with  the  similar  ancient   authority   for    this   use    of  the 
principle  of  commendation   existing  in  word, 
the  Roman  empire.     Tliis  bold  and  orig- 
inal theory,  however,  has  not  been  ad-  Thais  patri  se  commendavit ;  in  chente- 
mitted  by  liis  contemporary  antiquaries.  lam  et  fidem 
M.    Giraud   and  M.  Mignet  (Seances  et  Nobis  dedit  se.  —  Ter.  Eun.,  Act  5. 
Travaux  de  I'Academie  des  Sciences  Mo- 
rales et  Politiques,  pour  Novembre,  1843),  Origine  du   Gouvernement   Fran^ais  (in 
especially  the  latter,  dissent  from  this  ex-  Leber  ii.  194). 


Chap.  II.  PERSONAL  CO^niENDATION.  309 

the  liigher  class  mij:lit.  at  his  option,  fall,  for  the  sake  of 
protection,  into  an   inft-rior  position. 

I  have  no  lie<itation  in  aL'i-et'inir  with  Guizot  that  the 
conversion  of  aloilial  into  fiaulal  property  was  nothing  more 
than  an  extension  of  the  old  commendation.  It  was  not 
necessary  that  thi're  should  he  an  express  surrender  and 
regrant  of  the  land ;  the  acknowledgment  of  seigniory  hy 
the  coinmeiiddtiis  would  supply  the  place.  M.  Naudet 
(Nouv.  Mem.  de  I'Acad.  des  Inscrip.  vol.  viii.)  acciunulates 
proofs  of  commendation:  it  is  surprising  that  so  little  was 
said  of  it  hy  the  t-arlii-r  antitpiaries.  One  of  his  instances 
deserves  to  he  mentioned.  "  Isti  homines,"  says  a  writer  of 
Ciiarlemagne's  age,  "  fucrunt  liheri  et  ingenui ;  sed  (|uod 
militiam  regis  non  valebant  exercere,  tradiderunt  alodos 
siios  sancto  Germano."  ^  (P.  oG7.)  We  may  perhaps  hifer 
from  this  that  the  tenants  of  the  church  were  not  bound  to 
military  service.  "  No  general  law,"  says  M.  Guizot  (Col- 
lect, de  Ml'Ui.  i.  419),  "exempted  them  from  it:  but  the 
clergy  endeavored  constantly  to  secure  sucli  an  innnunity, 
either  l»v  grant  or  bv  custom,  wliieh  was  one  cause  that  their 
tenants  were  better  oti'  tlian  those  of  laymen."  The  ditfer- 
ence  was  indeed  most  important,  and  must  have  prodigiously 
enhanced  the  wealth  of  the  church.  But  after  the  feudal 
polity  became  established  we  do  not  lind  that  there  was  any 
dispensation  for  ecclesiastical  fiefs.  The  advantage  of  their 
tenants  lay  in  the  comparatively  jjacific  character  of  their 
spiritual  lor<l<.  It  may  Ije  added  that,  from  many  passages 
in  the  hiws  of  the  Saxons.  AleiuaMUs,  and  Bavarians,  all  the 
'•  commenihiti"  appear  to  liave  been  denominated  va-ssals, 
whether  tliey  po.^sessed  benelices  or  not.  That  word  after- 
wards im))lied  a  more  strictly  territorial  limitation. 

Thus  then  let  the  reader  keep  in  mind  that  the  feudal 
system,  as  it  is  connnoidy  called,  wa.s^the  general  estaldish- 
meiit  of  a  ]»eculiar  relation  between  the  sovereign  (not  as 
king,  l>ut  a«  lord)  ami  his  imiiie(liate  vassals;  betw<'en  tliese 
again  ami  others  standing  to  theiii  in  the  same  iil.ilion  of 
va^^alage.  and  thus  fre(|uentlv  tlirough  several  links  in  the 
ciiain  of  tenancy.  If  this  relation,  and  especially  if  tin-  lat- 
ter and  essential  element,  sul)inl'eudation,  is  not  to  be  found, 
there  is  no  feudal  system,  though  there  may  be  analogies  to 

1  It  will  !>«•  niiwrk"!  tluil  libtri  and  ingtniii  appear  liiTC  to  be  tllntin({uliilii'il ;  "  not 
only  frvo,  dut  Kvntlfiiiea." 


310  PEKSONAL  COMMENDATION.  Notes  to 

it,  more  or  less  remarkable  or  strict.  But  if  lie  asks  what 
were  the  immediate  causes  of  establishing  this  polity,  we 
must  refer  him  to  three  alone  —  to  the  grants  of  beneficiary 
lands  to  the  vassal  and  his  heirs,  without  which  there  could 
hardly  be  subinfeudation ;  to  the  analogous  grants  of  official 
honors,  particularly  that  of  count  or  governor  of  a  district ; 
and,  lastly,  to  the  voluntary  conversion  of  alodial  into  feudal 
tenure,  through  free  landholders  submitting  their  persons  and 
estates,  by  way  of  commendation,  to  a  neighboring  lord  or 
to  the  count  of  a  district.  All  these,  though  several  instan- 
ces, especially  of  the  first,  occurred  much  earlier,  belong 
generally  to  the  ninth  century,  and  may  be  supposed  to  have 
been  fully  accomplished  about  the  beginning  of  the  tenth  — 
to  which  period,  therefore,  and  not  to  an  earlier  one,  we  refer 
the  feudal  system  in  France.  We  say  in  France,  because 
our  attention  has  been  chiefly  directed  to  that  kingdom ;  in 
none  was  it  of  earlier  origin,  but  in  some  it  cannot  be  traced 
so  high. 

An  hereditary  benefice  was  strictly  a  fief,  at  least  if  we 
presume  it  to  have  implied  military  service  ;  hereditary  gov- 
ernments were  not :  something  more,  therefore,  was  required 
to  assimilate  these,  which  were  far  larger  and  more  impor- 
tant than  donations  of  land.  And,  perhaps,  it  was  only  by 
degrees  that  the  great  chiefs,  especially  in  the  south,  who, 
in  the  decay  of  the  Caroline  race,  established  their  patri- 
monial rule  over  extensive  regions,  condescended  to  swear 
fealty,  and  put  on  the  condition  of  vassals  dependent  on  the 
crown.  Such,  at  least,  is  the  opinion  of  some  modern 
French  writers,  who  seem  to  deny  all  subjection  during  the 
evening  of  the  second  and  dawn  of  the  third  race.  But  if 
they  did  not  repair  to  Paris  or  Laon  in  order  to  swear  fealty, 
they  kept  the  name  of  the  reigning  king  in  their  charters. 

The  hereditary  benefices  of  the  ninth  century,  or,  in  other 
words,  fiefs,  preserved  the  nominal  tie,  and  kept  France 
from  utter  dissolution.  They  deserve  also  the  greater  praise 
of  having  been  the  means  of  regenerating  the  national  char- 
acter, and  giving  its  warlike  bearing  to  the  French  people  ; 
not,  indeed,  as  yet  collectively,  but  in  its  separate  centres  of 
force,  after  the  pusillanimous  reign  of  Charles  the  Bald. 
They  produced  much  evil  and  misery ;  but  it  is  reasonable 
to  believe  that  they  prevented  more.  France  was  too  ex- 
tensive a  kingdom  to  be  governed  by  a  central  administra- 


CiiAi-.  11.  FRENCH  NOBILITY.  311 

lion.  unle.-5S  Charlemagne  had  possessed  the  gift  of  propagat- 
ing a  race  of  Alfreds  and  Edwards,  instead  of  Louis  the 
Stannnrrers  and  Charles  the  Balds.  Her  temporary  dis- 
integration by  the  feudal  system  was  a  necessary  conse- 
quence ;  without  that  system  there  would  have  been  a  final 
dissolution  of  the  moniu-chy,  and  perhaps  its  conquest  by 
barbarians. 

Note  XH.     Page  192. 

M.  Thierry,  whose  writings  disjday  so  much  antipathy  to 
the  old  nobility  of  his  country  that  they  ought  not  to  be 
fully  trusted  on  such  a  subject,  observes  that  the  Franks 
were  more  haughty  towards  their  subjects  than  any  other 
barbarians,  a,s  is  shown  in  the  dittV'rence  of  weregild.  From 
them  this  spirit  passed  to  the  French  nobles  of  the  middle 
ages,  though  tliev  were  not  all  of  Frank  descent.  "  L'exces 
d'orgUL-il  attache  ii  longtenqts  an  noni  de  gentilliomme  est  n^ 
en  France ;  son  foyer,  comme  celui  de  I'organization  feodale, 
fut  la  Gaule  du  C»'Mitre  et  du  Nord,  et  peut-etre  aussi  I'ltalie 
Lombarde.  C'est  de  la  qu'il  s'est  propage  dans  les  pays 
Germaniques,  ou  la  noblesse  anterieurement  se  distinguait 
pen  de  la  simple  condition  d'hoiume  libre.  Ce  mouvement 
crea.  ]tar-tout  ou  il  s'etendit,  deux  populations,  et  comme 
deux  nations,  proprcinent  distiiictes."  (Recits  des  Temps 
Merovingiens,  i.  2.30.) 

The  feudal  principle  was  essentially  aristocratic,  and  tend- 
ed to  enhance  every  unsocial  and  uiiciiristian  sentiment 
involved  in  the  exclusive  respect  for  birth.  It  had,  of 
cour.-e,  its  countervailing  virtues,  which  writers  of  M.  Thier- 
r}''s  school  d(j  not  enough  remember.  But  a  rural  aris- 
tocraev  in  tlie  meridian  of  feuilal  usages  was  insulated  in 
the  midst  of  tht-  other  classes  of  society  far  more  than  could 
ever  happen  in  citi<'S,  or  in  any  period  of  an  advanced 
civili/alicju.  "Never,"  says  Guizot,  "  had  the  primary  social 
mrdecule  been  f»o  8ej)arated  from  other  similar  molecules ; 
never  had  the  distance  been  so  great  betwecMi  the  simple 
anrl  essentiid  eh*ments  of  society."  The  chatelain.  amidst 
his  maehieolati'd  battlements  and  massive  gates  wilii  their 
iron  p<»rl<Mdlis,  received  the  vavassor,  though  as  an  inferior, 
at  liis  boanl  ;  but  to  th«'  roturier  no  feudal  Itoard  wa-*  open: 
the   owner   of  a  "  terre   ccusive,"  the   opulent    Itiirgess  ot  a 


312  FEENCH  NOBILITY.  Notes  to 

neigliboring  town,  was  as  little  admitted  to  the  banquet  of 
the  lord  as  he  was  allowed  to  unite  himself  in  marriage  to 
his  family. 

"  Nee  Deus  hunc  mensa,  Doa  nee  dignata  cubili  est." 

Pilgrims,  indeed,  and  travelling  merchants,  may,  if  we 
trust  romance,  have  been  always  excepted.  Although, 
therefore,  some  of  Guizot's  phrases  seem  overcharged,  since 
there  was,  in  fact,  more  necessary  intercourse  between  the 
different  classes  than  they  intimate,  yet  that  of  a  voluntary 
nature,  and  what  we  peculiarly  call  social,  was  very  limited. 
Nor  is  this  surprising  when  we  recollect  that  it  has  been  so 
till  comparatively  a  recent  period. 

Guizot  has  copied  a  picturesque  description  of  a  feudal 
castle  in  the  fourteenth  century  from  Monteil's  "  Histoir  des 
Franfais  des  divers  Etats  aux  cinq  derniers  Siecles."  It  is 
one  of  the  happiest  passages  in  that  writer,  hardly  more 
distinguished  by  his  vast  reading  than  by  his  skill  in  com- 
bining and  applying  it,  though  sometimes  bordering  on 
tediousness  by  the  profuse  expenditure  of  his  commonplace- 
books  on  the  reader. 

"  Representez  vous  d'abord  une  position  superbe,  une 
montagne  escarpee,  herissee  de  rochers,  sillonee  de  ravins 
et  de  precipices  ;  sur  le  penchaHt  est  le  chateau.  Les  petites 
maisons  qui  I'entourent  enfont  ressortir  la  grandeur ;  I'lndre 
semble  s'ecarter  avec  respect ;  elle  fait  un  large  demi-cercle 
k  ses  pieds. 

"  n  faut  voir  ce  chateau  lorsqu'au  soleil  levant  ses  galeries 
exterieures  reluisent  des  armures  de  ceux  qui  font  le  guet, 
et  que  ses  tours  se  montrent  toutes  brillantes  de  leurs  grandes 
grilles  neuves.  II  faut  voir  tons  ces  hauts  batiments  qui 
remplissent  de  courage  ceux  qui  les  defendent,  et  de  frayeur 
ceux  qui  seraient  tentes  de  les  attaquer. 

"  La  porte  se  presente  toute  couverte  de  tetes  de  sang- 
liers  ou  de  loups,  flanquee  de  tourelles  et  couronnee  d'un 
haut  corps  de  garde.  Entrez-vous  ?  trois  encientes,  trois 
fosses,  trois  pont-levis  a  passer;  vous  vous  trouverez  dans 
la  grande  cour  carree  ou  sont  les  citernes,  et  a  droite  ou  a 
gauche  les  ecuries,  les  poulaillers,  les  colombiers,  les  remises. 
Les  caves,  les  souterrains,  les  prisons  sont  par  dessous ;  par 
dessus  sont  les  logements,  les  magasins,  les  lardoirs  ou  saloirs, 
les  arsenaux.     Tous  les  combles  sont  hordes  des  machicoulis, 


Ch.u'.  ir.  FREEMEN.  313 

des  parai>ets.  iles  oherains  le  ronde,  des  gut'ritcs.  Au  iiiiliou 
de  la  tour  est  le  doiijoii,  qui  renl'ernie  les  archives  et  le  tresor. 
II  est  pi\)t()iid*'m»'iit  tbssoye  dans  t<»iit  son  jtourtoiir,  et  on  n'y 
entre  que  jiar  uu  pout  presque  tuiijuiirs  le\  e  ;  bieii  que  les 
mui-ailles  aient,  eouune  celles  du  chateau,  ])lus  de  six  pieds 
depaisseur.  il  est  revetu  jusqu'a  la  moitie  de  sa  hauteur, 
d'une  eheinise.  ou  second  niur,  en  grosses  i)ierres  de  taiUe. 

"  Ce  diateau  vient  d'etre  refait  ii  ncuf.  II  j  a  quehpie 
chose  de  leger,  de  frais,  que  n'avaient  pas  les  chateaux 
lourds  et  massifs  des  sieeles  passes."  (Civilis.  en  Fiance, 
Le9on  '•}').) 

And  this  was  true ;  for  the  castles  of  the  tenth  and 
eleveiuh  centuries  wanted  all  that  the  progress  of  luxury 
and  the  cessation,  or  nearly  such,  of  private  warfare  had  in- 
troduced before  the  age  to  which  this  description  refers ; 
they  were  strongholds,  and  nothing  more ;  dark,  small,  com- 
fortless, where  one  thought  alone  could  tend  to  dis[)el  their 
gloom,  that  life  and  honor,  ami  what  was  most  valuable  in 
goods,  wx-re  more  secure  in  them  than  in  the  champaign 
around. 

Note  XIII.     Page  196. 

'M.  Guizot  has  declared  it  to  Ije  the  most  difficult  of  ques- 
tions ri'lating  to  the  state  of  persons  in  the  iteriod  irom  the 
fifth  to  the  tenth  century,  whether  there  existed  in  the  coun- 
tries subdued  by  tin*  Germans,  and  especially  by  the  Fi-anks, 
a  numerous  and  important  class  of  freemen,  not  vassals 
either  of  the  king  or  any  other  proprietor,  nor  any  way  de- 
pendent upon  tliem,  and  with  no  oldigation  except  towards 
the  state,  its  laws  and  magistrates.  (Essais  sur  I'Hist.  de 
France,  p.  232.)  And  this  question,  contrary  to  almost  all 
his  predece8.sors,  he  inclines  to  decide  negatively.  It  is, 
indeed,  endent.  ami  is  confessed  Itv  M.  Guizot,  that  in  the 
ages  nearest  to  tin-  (•(tiiquest  such  a  class  not  only  existed, 
but  even  conq)rised  a  large  part  of  the  nation.  Such  were 
the  owners  of  sorffs  or  of  terra  Salica,  the  alodialists  of  the 
early  perio<l.  It  is  also  agreed,  as  has  been  shown  in 
another  plnee.  tliat,  towards  the  tenth  century,  the  number 
of  these  independent  landholders  was  exceedingly  diinin- 
i<hr-d  by  territorial  (•t)mrnendation  ;  that  is,  the  sultjecfion  of 
their  lamU  to  a  I'eudal   teiiinc.      The   la.-t  of  these  changes, 


314  FREEMEN.  Notes  to 

however,  cannot  have  become  general  under  Charlemagne, 
on  account  of  the  numerous  capitularies  which  distinguish 
those  who  held  lands  of  tlieu'  own,  or  alodia,  from  beneficiary 
tenants.  The  former,  therefore,  must  still  have  been  a 
large  and  important  class.  What  proportion  they  bore  to 
the  whole  nation  at  that  or  any  other  era  it  seems  impossi- 
ble to  pronounce ;  and  equally  so  to  what  extent  the  whole 
usage  of  personal  commendation,  contradistinguished  from 
territorial,  may  have  reached.  Still  alodial  lands,  as  has 
been  observed,  were  always  very  common  in  the  south  of 
France,  to  which  Flanders  might  be  added.  The  strength 
of  the  feudal  tenures,  as  Thierry  remarks,  was  between  the 
Somme  and  the  Loire.  (Recits  des  T.  M.  i.  245.)  These 
alodial  proprietors  were  evidently  freemen.  In  the  law  of 
France  alodial  lands  were  always  noble,  like  fiefs,  till  the 
reformation  of  the  Coutume  de  Paris  in  1580,  when  "aleux 
roturiers "  were  for  the  first  time  recognized.  I  owe  this 
fact,  which  appears  to  throw  some  light  on  the  subject  of 
this  note,  to  Laferriere,  Hist,  du  Droit  Franjais,  p.  129. 
But,  perhaps,  this  was  not  the  case  in  Flanders,  which  was 
an  alodial  country :  — "  La  maxime  fran^aise,  nuUe  terre 
sans  seigneur,  n'avait  point  lieu  dans  les  Pays-Bas.  On  s'en 
tenait  au  jjrincipe  de  la  liberte  naturelle  des  biens,  et  par 
suite  a  la  necessite  d'en  prouver  la  sujetion  ou  la  servitude ; 
aussi  les  biens  allodiaux  etaient  tres  nombreux,  et  rappe- 
laient  toujours  I'esprit  de  liberte  que  les  Beiges  ont  aime  et 
conserve  tant  a  I'egard  de  leurs  biens  que  de  leurs  pei'son- 
nes."  (Mem.  de  I'Acad.  de  Bruxelles,  vol.  iii.  p.  16.)  It 
bears  on  this,  that  in  all  the  customary  law  of  the  Nether- 
lands no  preference  was  given  to  sex  or  primogeniture  in 
succession  (p.  21). 

But  there  were  many  other  freemen  in  France,  even  in 
the  tenth  century,  if  we  do  not  insist  on  the  absolute  and 
insulated  independence  which  Guizot  requires.  "If  we 
must  understand,"  says  M.  Guerard  (Cartulaire  de  Chartres, 
p.  34),  "  by  freemen  those  who  enjoyed  a  liberty  without  re- 
striction, that  is,  who,  owing  no  duties  or  service  to  any  one, 
could  go  and  settle  whei'ever  they  pleased,  they  would  not 
be  found  very  numerous  in  our  chartulary  durmg  the  pure 
feudal  regimen.  But  if,  as  we  should,  we  comprehend  under 
this  name  whoever  is  neither  a  noble  nor  a  serf,  the  number 
of  people  in  tliis  intermediate  condition  was  verv  consid- 


Chap.  II.  COLOXI.  315 

emble."  And  of  these  he  specifies  several  varieties.  This 
was  in  the  eleventh  centui-y,  and  i)artly  later,  when  tlie  con- 
version of  alodial  i)roj)orty  had  been  completed. 

Savijrny  wa.s  the  lirst  who  proved  the  Arimanui  of  Loiu- 
liardv  to  have  been  freemen,  corresponding  to  the  Kacliim- 
hnr-rii  of  the  Franks,  and  distingnishcd  both  from  bondmen 
and  tVom  those  to  whom  they  owed  obedience.  Citizens  are 
sometime-;  called  Arimanni.  Tlie  word  occnrs,  though  very 
rarely,  ont  of  Italy.  (Vol.  i.  p.  17<;,  English  translation.) 
Guizot  includes  among  the  Arimanni  the  leudes  or  benefi- 
ciary vassals.  See,  too,  Troja,  v.  14G,  148.  There  seems, 
indeed,  no  reason  to  doubt  that  vassals,  and  other  commen- 
dati,  would  be  counted  as  Arimanni.  Neither  feudal  tenure 
nor  personal  commendation  could  possibly  derogate  from  a 
free  and  honorable  status. 

Note  XIV.     Page  197. 

These  names,  though  in  a  general  sense  occupying  simi- 
lar positions  in  the  social  scale,  denote  different  persons. 
The  coloni  were  Romans,  in  the  sense  of  the  word  then 
usual;  that  is,  they  were  the  cultivators  of  land  under  the 
empire,  of  whom  we  find  abundant  notice  both  in  the  Theo- 
dosian  Ciwle  and  that  of  Justinian.^  An  early  instance  of 
this  use  of  the  word  occurs  in  the  llistoria;  Augustie  Scrip- 
tores.  Trebellius  PoUio  says,  after  the  great  victory  of 
Claudius  over  the  Groths.  where  an  innnense  number  of  pris- 
oners was  taken  — "  Factus  miles  barbarus  ac  colonus  ex 
Gotho  ; "  an  expression  not  clear,  and  which  perplexed  Salma- 
sius.  But  it  may  perhaps  be  rendered,  the  barbarians  partly 
entered  the  legions,  partly  cultivated  the  ground,  in  the  rank 
of  coloni.  It  is  tims  understood  l)yTroja(ii.  7U.3).  He  con- 
ceives that  a  large  proportion  of  the  coloni,  mentioned  under 
the  Ciiristian  emperors,  were  bar])arian  settlers  (iii.  1074). 
They  ciim«!  in  the  place  of  ]u-;e(lial  slaves,  who.  though  not 
wlirdly  unknmvn.  grew  less  common  after  the  establishment  of 
Cliristianity.  Tin-  I^tman  colonus  was  free  ;  he  could  marry 
a  free  woman,  and  have  legitimate  children  ;  he  could  serve 
in  the  army,  and  wits  capal)le  of  projti'rty  ;  his  peculiuiii, 
uidike   that   of  the  absolute  slave,  could  not  be  touched  l)y 

1  S««  Oo.|.  TIk-oJ.  1.  T.  tit.  9,  with  the  coploug  Paratltlon  of  Ootliofri'd.  —  C(xl.  Just. 
xJ.  tit  47  et  utiht. 


316  TRIBUTARII,  LIDI.  Notes  to 

his  master.  Nor  could  liis  fixed  rent  or  duty  be  enhanced. 
He  could  even  sue  his  master  for  any  crime  committed  with 
respect  to  him,  or  for  undue  exaction.  He  was  attached,  ou 
the  other  hand,  to  the  soil,  and  might  in  certain  cases  re- 
ceive corporal  punishment.  (Troja,  iii.  1072.)  He  paid  a 
capitation  tax  or  census  to  the  state,  the  frequent  enhance- 
ment of  which  contributed  to  that  decline  of  the  agricultural 
population  which  preceded  the  barbarian  conquest.  Guizot, 
in  whose  thirty-seventh  lecture  on  the  Civilization  of  France 
the  subject  is  well  treated,  derives  the  origin  of  this  state  of 
society  from  that  of  Gaul  before  the  Roman  conquest.  But 
since  we  find  it  in  the  whole  empire,  as  is  shown  by  many 
laws  in  the  Code  of  Justmian,  we  may  look  on  it  pei-haps 
rather  as  a  modification  of  ancient  slavery,  unless  we  sup- 
pose all  the  coloni,  in  this  latter  sense  of  the  word,^  to  have 
been  originally  barbarians,  who  had  received  lands  on  con- 
dition of  remaining  on  them.  But  this,  however  frequent, 
seems  a  basis  not  quite  wide  enough  for  so  extensive  a  ten- 
ure. Nor  need  we  believe  that  the  coloni  were  always 
raised  from  slavery ;  they  might  have  descended  into  their 
own  order,  as  well  as  risen  to  it.  It  appears  by  a  passage  in 
Salvian,  about  the  middle  of  the  fifth  century,  that  many 
freemen  had  been  compelled  to  fall  into  this  condition  ;  which 
confirms,  by  analogy,  the  supposition  above  mentioned  of  M. 
Naudet,  as  to  a  similar  degradation  of  a  part  of  the  Franks 
themselves  after  the  conquest.  It  was  an  inferior  species  of 
commendation  or  vassalage,  or,  more  strictly,  an  analogous 
result  of  the  state  of  society. 

The  forms  of  Marculfus,  and  all  the  documents  of  the 
following  ages,  furnish  abundant  proofs  of  the  continuance  of 
the  coloni  in  this  middle  state  between  entire  freedom  and 
servitude.  And  these  were  doubtless  reckoned  among  the 
"  tributarii "  of  the  Salic  law,  whose  composition  was  fixed 
at  forty-five  solidi ;  for  a  slave  had  no  composition  due  to  his 
kindred ;  he  was  his  master's  chattel,  and  to  be  paid  for  as 
such.  But  the  tributary  was  not  necessarily  a  colonus.  All 
who  possessed  no  lands  were  subjected  by  the  imperial  fisc  to 
a  personal  capitation.  And  it  has  appeared  to  us  that  the 
Romans  in  Gaul  continued  regularly  to  pay  this  under  the 
house  of  Clovis.     To  these  Roman  tributaries  the  barbarian 

1  The  colonus  of  Cato  and  other  classical  authors  was  a  free  tenant  or  farmer,  as 
has  been  already  mentioned. 


CiiAi-.  11.  VILLEINAGE.  317 

lidi  Sfciii  iK-arly  to  luive  corrospoiuk'd.  This  was  a  class,  as 
has  Ix't'ii  already  said,  not  quite  t'reeborn  ;  so  tliat  "  Fraiicus 
iiigeiuius"  wa,s  no  tautology,  as  some  have  ianeied,  yet  far 
from  slaves  ;  without  jxilitieal  privileges  or  rights  ot"  adminis- 
tering justice  in  the  eoiuitv  court,  like  the  Rachiudiunrii,  and 
so  little  fuvored,  that,  while  the  Frank  accused  of  a  theft,  that 
is,  I  iircsume.  taken  in  the  fact,  was  to  be  brought  before  his 
peers,  the  lidus,  under  the  name  of  "  debilior  persona,"  which 
probably  includetl  the  Koman  tributary,  was  to  be  hanged  on 
the  spot.  Throughout  the  Salic  and  Kipuarian  codes  the 
ingennus  is  opposed  both  to  the  lidus  and  to  the  scrvus  ;  so 
that  the  threetbld  division  is  inconti-stable.  It  corresponds  in 
a  certain  degree  to  the  edelingi,  frilingi,  and  lazzl,  or  the 
eurh  ceorl,  and  f/i nt/l  oi'  the  northern  nations  ((Irimm.  Deut- 
sche Keciits  Alterthiimer,  p.  oOG  <'f  a/i/ti);  though  we  do  not 
liiul  a  strict  proportion  in  the  social  state  of  the  second  order 
in  every  country.  The  "coloui  partiarii,"  frequently  men- 
tioned in  the  Theodosian  Code,  were  metayers :  and  jNI. 
Guerard  says  that  lands  were  ehietly  held  by  such  in  the  age 
of  Charlenvagne  and  his  family.  (Cart,  de  Chartres,  i.  lO'J.) 
The  demesne  lands  of  the  manor,  liowever,  were  never  occu- 
pieil  by  coloui,  Ijut  Ijy  serfs  or  tlomestic  slaves. 

Note  XV.     Page  198. 

The  i^oor  early  felt  the  necessity  of  .selling  themselves  for 
subsistence  in  times  of  famine.  "  Sulxliderunt  se  pauperes 
.^ervitio."  says  Gregory  of  Tours,  a.d.  -'tS't,  '*  ut  quantulum- 
cunque  de  alimento  porrigerent."  (Lib.  vii.  c.  4').)  This 
long  continued  to  be  the  practice  ;  and  probably  the  remark 
aide  innnber  of  famines  which  are  recorded,  especially  in  the 
ninth  and  eleventh  centuries,  swelled  the  .sad  list  of  those 
unhaj)py  poor  who  were  reduced  to  barter  liberty  for  bread. 
Mr.  Wright,  in  the  thirtieth  volume  of  the  Archicologia  (]>. 
'2'2'''i),  has  extra<-ted  an  eiUry  from  an  Anglo-Saxon  niauu- 
.script.  where  a  lady,  alwtut  the  time  of  the  Con(iuest,  inann- 
mit.'i  .some  slaves,  ''whose  lieads,"  as  it  is  simply  and  iorcilily 
cxpres-icd,  '*  she  had  taken  for  their  meat  in  tin,-  evil  days." 
Kvil  indeed  wi-re  those  days  in  France,  when  oiU  of  seveiily- 
three  years,  the  reigns  of  Hugh  Cajiet  and  his  two  successors, 
forty-eight  were  years  of  famine.  Evil  were  tlu;  days  for  five 
years  fnun   10 1.0,  in  the  whole  we>tern   world,  when  not  a 


318  VILLEINAGE.  Notes  to 

country  could  be  named  that  was  not  destitute  of  bread. 
These  were  famines,  as  Radulfus  Glaber  and  other  contem- 
porary writers  tell  us,  in  which  mothers  ate  their  children, 
and  children  their  parents  ;  and  human  flesh  was  sold,  with 
some  pretence  of  concealment,  in  the  markets.  It  is  probable 
that  England  suffered  less  than  France  ;  but  so  long  and  fre- 
quent a  scarcity  of  necessary  food  must  have  affected,  in  the 
latter  country,  the  whole  organic  frame  of  society. 

It  has  been  a  very  general  opinion  that  during  the  lawless- 
ness of  the  ninth  and  tenth  centuries,  the  aristocratic  element 
of  society  continually  gaining  ground,  the  cultivators  fell  into 
a  much  worse  condition,  and  either  from  freemen  became 
villeins,  or,  if  originally  in  the  order  of  tributaries,  became 
less  and  less  capable  of  enjoying  such  personal  rights  as  that 
state  implied ;  that  they  fell,  in  short,  almost  into  servitude. 
"  Dans  le  comniencement  de  la  troisieme  race,"  says  Montes- 
quieu, "presque  tout  le  bas  peuple  etait  serf."  (Lib.  xxviii. 
c.  45.)  Sismondi,  who  never  draws  a  favorable  picture,  not 
only  descants  repeatedly  on  this  oppression  of  the  common- 
alty, but  traces  it  by  the  capitularies.  "  Les  loix-seules  nous 
donnent  quelque  indication  d'une  revolution  importante  a 
laquelle  la  grande  masse  du  peuple  fut  exposee  a  plusieurs 
reprises  dans  toute  I'etendue  des  Gaules,  —  revolution  qui, 
s'etant  operee  sans  violence,  n'a  laisse  aucune  trace  dans 
I'histoire,  et  qui  doit  cependant  expliquer  seule  les  alterna- 
tives de  force  et  de  faiblesse  dans  les  etats  du  moyen  age. 
C'est  le  passage  des  cultivateurs  de  la  condition  libre  k  la 
condition  servile.  L'esclavage  etant  une  fois  introduite  et 
protegee  par  les  loix,  la  consequence  de  la  prosperite,  de 
I'accroissement  des  richesses  devait  §tre  toujours  la  disparition 
de  toutes  les  petites  proprietes,  la  multiplication  des  esclaves, 
et  la  cessation  absolue  de  tout  travail  qui  ne  serait  pas  fait 
par  des  mains  serviles."  (Hist,  des  Franyais,  vol.  ii.  p.  273.) 
Nor  should  we  have  believed,  from  the  general  language  of 
historical  antiquaries,  that  any  change  for  the  better  took 
place  till  a  much  later  ei-a.  We  know  indeed  from  history 
that,  about  the  year  1000,  the  Norman  peasantry,  excited  by 
oppression,  broke  out  into  a  general  and  well-organized  re- 
volt, quelled  by  the  severest  punishments.  This  is  told  at 
some  length  by  Wace,  in  the  "  Roman  de  Ron."  And  every 
inference  from  the  want  of  all  law  except  what  the  lords 
exercised  themselves,  from  the  strength  of  their  castles,  from 


Chap.  n.  VILLEINAGE.  319 

the  fierceness  of  tlieir  charactei-s,  from  the  apparent  inability 
of  tlie  peasants  to  make  any  resistance  which  should  not  end 
in  frreater  suft'friiiL''-:.  converires  to  the  same  result. 

It  is  not  therefore  without  some  surprise  that,  in  a  recent 
publication,  we  meet  with  a  totally  opposite  hypothesis  on  this 
important  portion  of  social  history.  The  editor  of  the  Cartu- 
laire  de  Chart  res  maintains  that  the  jicasantry,  at  the  bcfrin- 
ning  of  the  eleventh  ceiuury,  enjoyed  ri;^hts  of  property  and 
succession  which  had  been  denied  to  their  ancestors  ;  that  the 
movement  from  the  ninth  century  had  been  upwards ;  so 
that,  during  that  period  of  anarchy  which  we  [)resume  to 
have  been  exceedingly  unfavorable  to  their  privileges,  they 
had  in  reality,  by  force,  usage,  or  concession,  gained  possession 
of  tln^m.  They  could  not  indeed  leave  their  lands,  but  they 
occujiied  them  subject  to  known  cunditions. 

The  passage  wherein  ^[.  Guerard,  in  a  concise  and  per- 
spicuous manner,  has  given  his  own  theory  as  to  the  gradual 
decline  of  servitude  deserves  to  be  extracted  ;  but  I  regret 
very  much  that  he  refers  to  another  work,  not  by  name,  and 
unknown  to  me,  for  the  fidl  proof  of  what  has  the  air  of  an 
historical  paradox.  With  sullicient  proof  every  paradox 
loses  its  name  ;  and  I  have  not  the  least  right,  from  any 
deep  researches  of  my  own.  to  call  in  (piestion  the  testimony 
which  has  convinced  so  Icarnccl  and  diligent  an  inquirer. 

'•  La  servitude,  connne  je  I'ai  expose  dans  un  autre  travail, 
alia  toujours  chez  nous  en  s'adoucissant  jusqu'h.  ce  qu'elle  fut 
entierement  alxdie  h  la  chute  de  I'ancien  regime :  d'aliord 
e'est  I'esclavage  a-peu-pres  pur,  qui  reduisait  I'lionime  pres- 
que  a  letat  de  chose,  et  qui  le  mettait  dans  I'entiere  depen- 
dance  de  son  mailre.  Cette  periode  pent  etre  prolongee 
jusqu'apn-s  la  cotiquete  de  I'dnpire  d'Occiih-iit  ]>ar  les  bar- 
bares.  Di-|)ui<  (•••ttc  epcMjue  jusipies  vers  la  (in  du  regne  de 
Charles-le-C'hauve,  resdavage  propreraent  dit  est  remplace 
par  la  scrvituilc.  dans  liupielle  la  condition  Ininiaine  est  re- 
connue,  respectec,  protegee,  si  ce  n'est  encore  (rune  nianiere 
sufRsante,  par  les  loix  civiles,  au  raoins  plus  eflicacemeiit  par 
(•<']]>•<  (h:  I'Eglise  et  par  les  moeurs  sociales.  Alors  le  pouvoir 
de  riiomme  sur  son  semblal)le  est  contcnu  grneralcniciit  dans 
(•(•rtaiiis  limitcs  ;  uii  fri-in  est  mis  d'onliiiaire  a  la  violence  ; 
la  regie  et  la  stabilite  remi)orteiit  sur  I'arbilrairc  :  lucf.  la 
libfrt<'  et  la  propriet)'-  jienetn-iit  par  qu(l(|U<'  cndroit  dans  la 
cabane  du  serf.     Knfiii,  pendant  le  desordre  d'oii  sortit  Iriom- 


320  VILLEINAGE.  Notes  to 

phant  le  regime  feodal,  le  serf  soutient  conti'e  son  maitre  la 
lutte  soutenue  par  le  vassal  centre  son  seigneur,  et  par  les 
seigneurs  contre  le  roi.  Le  succes  fut  le  meme  de  part  et 
d'autre  ;  I'usurpation  des  tenures  serviles  accompagna  celle 
des  tenures  liberales,  et  I'appropriation  territoriale  ayant  eu 
lieu  partout,  dans  le  bas  comme  dans  le  haut  de  la  societe,  il 
fut  aussi  difficile  de  deposseder  un  serf,  de  son  manse  qu'un 
seigneur  de  son  benefice.  Des  ce  moment  la  servitude  fut 
transformee  en  servage ;  le  serf,  ayant  retir^  sa  personne 
et  son  champ  des  mains  de  son  maitre,  dut  a  celui-ci  non 
plus  son  corps  ni  son  bien,  mais  seulement  une  partie  de 
son  travail  et  de  ses  revenus.  Des  ce  moment  il  a  cesse  de 
servir  ;  il  n'est  plus  en  realite  qu'un  tributaire. 

"  Cette  grande  revolution,  qui  tira  de  son  etat  abject  la 
classe  la  plus  nombreuse  de  la  population,  et  qui  I'investit  de 
droits  civils,  lorsque  auparavant  elle  ne  pouvait  guere  in- 
voquer  en  sa  faveur  que  les  droits  de  I'humanite,  n'avait  pas 
encore  ete  signalee  dans  notre  Listoire.  Les  faits  qui  la  de- 
monstrent  ont  ete  developpe  dans  un  autre  travail  que  je  ne 
puis  reproduire  ici ;  mais  les  traces  seules  qu'elle  a  laissees 
dans  notre  Cartulaire  sont  assez  nombreuses  et  assez  profon- 
des  pour  la  faire  universellement  reconnaitre.  Elle  etait  depuis 
long-temps  consommee,  lorsque  le  moine  redigeait,  dans  la  sec- 
onde  moitie  du  XI^  siecle,  la  premiere  partie  du  present  recueil, 
et  lorsqu'il  declarait  que  les  anciens  roles  (ecrits  au  ix^.) 
conserves  dans  les  archives  de  I'Abbaye,  n'accordent  aux 
paysans  ni  les  usages  ni  les  droits  dont  ils  jouissant  actuelle- 
ment.  Mais  ses  paroles  meritent  d'etre  repetees  :  — '  Lectori 
intimare  curavi,'  dit-il  dans  sa  Preface,  '  quod  ea  quce  primo 
scripturus  sum  a  prcesenti  usu  admodum  discrepare  videntur; 
nam  roll!,  conscripti  ah  antiquis  et  in  armario  nostro  nunc 
reperti,  hahuisse  minimi  ostendunt  illius  temporis  rusticos 
has  consuetudines  in  reditihus  quas  moderni  rustici  in  hoc 
tempore  dinoscuntur  habere,  neque  hahent  vocahula  reriim  quas 
tunc  sermo  hahehat  vulgaris^  Ainsi  non  seulement  les  choses, 
mais  encore  les  noms,  tout  etait  change."  (Prolegomenes  a 
la  Cartulaire  de  Chartres,  p.  40.) 

The  characteristic  of  the  villein,  according  to  Beaumanoir, 
in  the  thirteenth  century,  that  his  obligations  were  fixed  in 
kind  and  degree,  would  thus  appear  to  have  been  as  old  as 
the  eleventh.  Many  charters  of  the  tenth  and  eleventh  cen- 
turies are  adduced  by  M.  Guerard,  wherein,  as  he  mforms  us, 


Cn-u>.  II.  VILLF.IXAf^F..  321 

'*  On  s't'tforoe  de  ?e  soustraire  a  la  violence,  et  d'y  substitncr 
les  convintions  a  rarbitraire  ;  la  rejrle  ot  la  mosure  tt'iidiMit 
h  s'introdiiiiv  partout  et  jiisciues  dans  les  extortions  menies" 
(p.  100).  But  this  principle  of  limited  rent  was  also  that  of 
the  Roman  system  with  respect  to  the  coloni  before  the  con- 
quest of  Oaul  by  Clovis.  Nor  do  \vc  know  that  it  was  differ- 
ent afterwards.  No  law  at  least  could  have  effected  it ;  for 
the  Koman  law,  by  which  the  coloni  were  ruled,  underwent 
no  chanire. 

M.  Guerard  seems  hardly  to  have  taken  a  just  view  of  the 
status  of  the  Roman  tributary  or  colonus.  "Nous  avons  dit 
que  les  personnes  de  condition  servile  s'etaient  ajjpropries  leurs 
benefices.  Ce  que  vient  encore  nous  contirmer  dans  cette  opin- 
ion, c'est  le  changcment  (pion  observe  gencralement  dans  la  con- 
dition des  terres  depuis  le  declin  du  x"  siecle.  La  terre,  apres 
avoir  ete  cultivee  dans  Tantiquite  par  Tesclave  an  profit  de 
son  maitre,  le  fut  ensuite  par  un  espece  de  fermier  nou  libre 
qui  partagcait  avec  le  proprietaire,  ou  qui  faisait  les  fruits 
siens,  moyeimant  certains  cens  et  services,  auxquels  il  etait 
oblige  envers  lui :  c'est  I'etat  qui  nous  est  represente  par  le 
Polyptyque  d'Irminon,  an  temps  de  Charlemagne,  et  qui  dura 
encore  un  .siecle  et  demi  environ  apres  la  mort  de  ce  grand 
prince.  Pui-;  connnence  une  troisieme  periode,  pendant  la- 
quelle  le  proprietaire,  n'est  plus  que  seigneur,  tandis  que  le 
tenancier  est  devenu  lui-meme  proprietaire,  et  paie,  non  plus 
de  fcrmagcs,  mais  .«eulcmcnt  des  droits  seigneuriaux.  Ainsi, 
d'abord  oldigations  d'un  e.sdave  envers  un  maitre  ensuite  ob- 
ligations d'un  fermier  non  libre  envers  un  proprietaire  ;  enfin, 
obligations  d'un  proprietaire  non  libre  envers  un  seigneur. 
C'est  il  la  di-rniere  pt'riodt-  quo  nous  sommes  parvenus  dans 
notre  Cartulaire.  Les  populations  >'v  njontrent  en  jouissance 
du  droit  de  |)ro])riete,  et  ne  sent  .«ouniises,  k  raison  des  posses- 
sions, qu'a  de  simples  charges  feodales." 

It  may  be  observed  upon  this,  that  the  colonus  wa.s  a  free 
man,  whether  he  divided  the  produce  with  Ids  lord,  like  the 
metayer  of  modr-rn  times,  or  paid  a  certain  rent ;  and,  sec- 
on<lly.  that,  in  wliat  he  calls  the  third  period,  the  tenant,  if  he 
wa-i  a  villein  or  homme  de  poote,  could  not  possibly  l>e  calh-d 
"  lui-meme  proprietaire  ; "  nor  were  his  liabilities  feudal,  but 
either  a  mniiey-rent  or  j)ersonal  service  in  labor;  wliieh  can- 
not hv.  denominated  feudal  without  great  impropriety. 

"  II  est  vrai,"  he  proceeds,  '*  (pie  ces  charges  sont  encore 

VOL.   I.  21 


322  LEGISLATIVE  ASSEMBLIES.  Notbs  to 

lourdes  et  souvent  accablantes,  et  que  les  biens  ne  sont  pas 
plus  que  les  personnes  entierement  francs  et  libres  ;  ni  suffi- 
samment  h  I'abri  de  I'arbitraire  et  de  la  violence ;  mais  la 
liberte,  acquise  de  jour  en  jour  a  I'homme,  se  communiquait 
de  plus  en  plus  a  la  terre.  Le  paysan  etant  proprietaire,  il 
ne  lui  restait  qu'a.  degrever  et  afFranchir  la  propriete.  C'est 
a  cet  oeuvre  qu'il  travaillera  desormais  avec  perseverance  et 
de  toutes  ses  forces,  jusqu'a  ce  qu'il  ait  enfin  obtenu  de  ne 
supporter  d'autres  charges  que  celles  qui  convienent  a 
rhomme  libre,  et  qui  sont  uniquement  fondees  sur  Futilite 
commune." 

In  this  passage  the  tenant  is  made  much  more  to  resemble 
the  free  socager  of  England  than  the  villein  or  homo  posta- 
tis  of  Pierre  des  Fontaines  or  Beaumanoir.  This  latter  class, 
however,  was  certainly  numerous  in  their  age,  and  could 
hardly  have  been  less  so  some  centuries  before.  These  were 
subject  to  so  many  onerous  restrictions,  independent  of  their 
compulsory  residence  on  the  land,  and  independently  also  of 
their  want  of  abihty  to  resist  undue  exactions,  that  they  were 
always  eager  to  purchase  their  own  enfranchisement.  Their 
mari'iages  were  not  valid  without  the  lord's  consent,  till  Adi-ian 
IV.,  in  the  twelfth  century,  declared  them  indissoluble.  A 
freeman  marrying  a  serf  became  one  himself,  as  did  their 
children.  They  were  liable  to  occasional  as  well  as  regular 
demands,  that  is,  to  tallages,  sometimes  in  a  very  ai-bitrary 
manner.  It  was  probably  the  less  frequency  of  such  de- 
mands, among  other  reasons,  that  rendered  the  condition  of 
ecclesiastical  tenants  more  eligible  than  that  of  others.  Man- 
umissions of  serfs  by  the  church  were  very  common ;  and, 
indeed,  the  greater  part  that  have  been  preserved,  as  may  be 
expected,  come  from  ecclesiastical  repositories.  It  is  observed 
in  my  text  that  the  English  clergy  are  said  to  have  been  slow 
in  liberating  their  villeins.  But  a  villein  in  England  was 
real  property ;  and  I  conceive  that  a  monastery  could  not  en- 
franchise him,  at  least  without  the  consent  of  some  superior 
authority,  any  more  than  it  could  alienate  its  lands.  The 
church  were  not  generally  accounted  harsh  masters. 

Note  XVI.     Pages  213,  214. 

There  would  seem  naturally  little  doubt  that  majorum  can 
mean  nothing  but  the  higlier  classes  of  clergy  and  laity,  ex- 


Cn.vr.  II.  LEGISLATIVE  ASSEMBLIES.  223 

elusive  of  pari>h  priests  and  ordinary  fi'eemen,  were  it  not 
that  a  part  of  these  very  majores  are  afterwards  designated 
by  the  name  mitwres.  Who,  it  may  be  a.'sked,  could  be  the 
majores  clerici,  except  prelates  and  abbots  ?  And  of  these, 
how  could  one  be  so  inferior  in  degree  to  another  as  to  be 
reckoned  among  minores  ?  It  may  perhaps  be  answered  that 
there  was  nevertheless  a  difference  of  importance,  thousrh  not 
of  rank.  Guizot  translates  iiiajores  "les  grands,"  ami  i/iiiio- 
res  "  les  moins  considerables."  l)Ut  upon  tliis  construction, 
whicli  certaitdy  is  what  the  words  fairly  bear,  none  but  a 
chiss  denominated  majores,  relatively  to  the  rest  of  the  nation, 
were  members  of  the  national  council.  I  think,  nevertheless, 
that  Guizot,  on  any  hypothesis,  has  too  much  depreciated  the 
authority  of  these  general  meetings,  wherein  the  capitularies 
of  Charlemagne  were  enacted.  Grant,  against  3Ial)ly,  that 
they  were  not  a  democratic  assembly ;  still  were  they  not  a 
legislature  ?  "  Lex  consensu  fit  populi  et  constitutione  regis." 
This  is  our  own  statute  language  ;  but  does  it  make  parlia- 
ment of  no  avail?  "  En  lui  (Charlemagne)  reside  la  volonte 
et  I'impulsion  ;  c'est  de  lui  (pie  toute  emane  pour  revenir  a, 
lui."  (Essais  sur  I'Hist.  de  France,  p.  323.)  This  is  only 
to  say  that  he  was  a  truly  great  man,  and  that  his  subjects 
were  semi-barbarians,  comparatively  unfit  to  devise  methods 
of  ruling  the  empire.  No  one  can  doubt  that  he  directed 
everything.  But  a  weaker  sovereign  soon  found  these  rude 
nobles  an  overmatch  for  him.  It  is,  moreover,  well  pointed 
out  by  Sir  F.  Palgrave,  that  we  find  instances  of  petitions 
pre-ente<l  by  the  lay  or  spiritual  memliersof  these  assemblies 
to  Cliarlcmagne,  upon  wliich  (•a[)itularies  or  edicts  were  after- 
ward<  founded.  (English  Commonwealth,  ii.  411.)  It  is  to 
be  inferrcil.  from  -icvcral  texts  in  the  capitularies  of  Charle- 
magne and  hi<  tiiniily,  tliat  a  gi'ucral  consent  was  required  to 
their  legislative  constitutions,  and  that  without  this  a  capitu- 
lary did  not  bi'come  a  law.  It  is  not,  however,  quite  so  clear 
in  what  method  this  was  testified  ;  or  rather  two  methods  ap- 
pear to  be  indicated.  One  was  that  above  described  by 
Hincmar,  when  the  determination  of  ihasemoresw&A  referred 
to  thf  minores  for  their  confimiation :  "  inlcrduin  pariter 
tnictandiim.  et  non  ex  pijtestatc  sed  ex  proprio  iiiciitis  intel- 
lectu  vel  sententia  contirmandmn."  The  point  of  <livergence 
Ix'tween  two  M-hooN  of  constitutional  anti(iuari<'s  in  France  Is 
on  the  Words  ex  potesta/e.     Mably,  and  others  wlioni   1  have 


324  LEGISLATIVE  ASSEMBLIES.  Notes  to 

followed,  say  "  not  by  compulsion,"  or  words  to  that  effect. 
But  Guizot  renders  the  words  differently  :  "  quelquefois  on 
deliberait  aussi,  et  les  confirmaient,  non  par  un  consentement 
foi'mel,  mais  par  leur  opinion,  et  I'adhesion  de  leur  intelli- 
gence." The  Latin  idiom  will,  I  conceive,  bear  either  con- 
struction. But  the  context,  as  well  as  the  analogy  of  other 
authorities,  inclines  me  to  the  more  popular  interpretation, 
which,  though  the  more  popular,  does  not  necessarily  carry 
us  beyond  the  word  majores,  taking  that  as  descriptive  of  a 
numerous  aristocracy. 

If,  indeed,  we  are  so  much  bound  by  the  majorum  in  this 
passage  of  Ilincmar  as  to  take  for  merely  loose  phrases  the 
continual  mention  of  the  populus  in  the  capitularies,  we  could 
not  establish  any  theory  of  popular  consent  in  legislation 
from  the  general  placita  held  almost  every  May  by  Charle- 
magne. They  would  be  conventions  of  an  aristocracy ; 
numerous  indeed,  and  probably  comprehending  by  right 
all  the  vassals  of  the  crown,  but  excluding  the  freemen  or 
petty  alodialists,  not  only  from  deliberating  upon  public  laws, 
but  from  consenting  to  them.  We  find,  however,  several 
proofs  of  another  method  of  obtaining  the  ratification  of  this 
class,  that  is  of  the  Frank  people.  I  do  not  allude  to  the 
important  capitulary  of  Louis  (though  I  cannot  think  that  M. 
Guizot  has  given  it  sufficient  weight),  wherein  the  count  is 
directed  to  bring  twelve  Scabini  with  him  to  the  imperial 
placitum,  because  we  are  chiefly  at  present  referring  to  the 
reign  of  Charlemagne ;  and  yet  this  provision  looks  like  one 
of  his  devising.  The  scheme  to  which  I  refer  is  different 
and  less  satisfactory.  The  capitulary  determined  upon  by  a 
national  placitum  was  sent  round  to  the  counts,  who  were  to 
read  it  in  their  own  mallus  to  the  people,  and  obtain  their 
confirmation.  Thus  in  803,  "  Anno  tertio  clementissimi  domi- 
ni  nostri  Karoli  Augusti,  sub  ipso  anno  ha^c  facta  capitula 
sunt,  et  consignata  Stephano  comiti,  ut  h^ec  manifesta  faceret 
in  civitate  Parisiis,  mallo  publico,  et  ilia  legere  faceret  coram 
Scabiniis,  quod  ita  et  fecit.  Et  omnes  in  uno  consenserunt, 
quod  ipsi  voluissent  omni  tempore  observare  usque  in  poste- 
rum.  Etiam  omnes  Scabinii,  Episcopi,  Abbates,  Comites 
manu  propria  subter  signaverunt."  (Rec.  des  Hist.  v.  G63.) 
No  text  can  be  more  perspicuous  than  this ;  but  several  other 
proofs  might  be  given,  extending  to  the  subsequent  reigns. 
Sir  F.  Palgrave  is,  perhaps,  the  first  who  has  drawn  at- 


Chap.  II.  HOYAL   TUini'XALS.  o2j 

tcntion  to  tins  scheme  of  local  sanction  by  the  people ;  though 
I  nui-t  tliiiik  that  he  has  somewhat  oltscm-ed  tlie  siilijcct  by 
suppo.-hijr  the  main,  wherein  the  capitulary  was  conlirmed, 
to  have  been  those  of  sejtarate  nations  constituting  the  Frank 
empire,  insteail  of  being  dctermineil  by  the  territorial  juris- 
diction of  each  count.  He  gives  a  natural  interi)retati()u  to 
the  famous  wonls,  "  Lex  consensu  populi  tit.  constitntione 
regis."  The  capitularv  was  a  constitution  of  tlie  king, 
though  not  without  the  advit-e  of  his  great  men;  the  law  was 
its  continuation  by  the  nation  collectively,  ui  the  great  placi- 
tum  of  the  Field  of  Maivh,  or  by  sa])arate  consent  and  sub- 
scription in  each  county. 

We  are  not.  however,  to  be  contident  that  this  assent  of 
the  people  in  their  county  courts  was  virtually  more  than 
nominal.  A  little  consideration  will  show  that  it  could  not 
ea^ilv  iiave  been  otherwise,  except  in  the  strongest  ca^es  of 
unpopular  legislation.  No  Siabini  or  Kachiinburgii  in  one 
county  knew  much  of  what  passed  at  a  distance ;  and 
dissaii-faction  must '  have  been  universal  before  it  could 
have  tlxuid  its  organ  in  such  assemblies.  Before  that 
time  arrived  rebellion  was  a  more  probable  effect.  One 
capitulary,  of  823,  does  not  even  allude  to  consent :  "  In  suis 
comitatibus  coram  omnilius  relegant.  ut  cunctis  nostra  ordi- 
natio  et  vohuita<  nota  tieri  possit."  Hut  we  cannot  set  this 
against  the  language  of  so  many  other  capitulai'ies,  which 
imply  a  tbrinal  ratitication. 

Note  X\11.     Page  242. 

Tlie  court  of  the  palace  possessed  a  considerable  jiu-isdic- 
tiou  t'roin  the  earliest  times.  We  have  its  judgineuts  under 
tin-  Merovingian  kings.  Tlitis  in  a  di|)loma  of  Clovis  III., 
A.l).  fi'.t'J.  datcfl  at  Valenciennes  — "  C'lun  ad  universoriun 
causae  audienilas  vel  recta  jmlicia  terminanda  resideremus." 
(Itec.  «les  Hist.  iv.  G72.)  Under  the  house  of  Charlemagne 
it  i>  fully  deserilted  l»y  Hincmar  in  the  famous  passage  above 
inention*.-il.  It  wa-^  not  so  miK-h  in  form  a  court  of  appeal  as 
one  arting  by  the  s(»vereign's  aiuhority,  to  redress  the  oppres- 
sion  of  the  subject  by  interior  magistrates.  Mr.  Allen  has 
well  rejr-j'ir-d  the  -.ingidar  ojiiMion  of  ^feyer,  tiiat  an  errone- 
ous or  corrupt  judgment  oi'  the  iuf'eri(jr  court  was  not  revers- 
ible   by   this    royal    tribunal,    though    the  judges    might    be 


326  ROYAL  TRIBUNALS.  Notes  to 

punished  for  giving  it.  (Inquiry  into  Royal  Prerogative, 
Appendix,  p.  29.)  Though,  according  to  what  is  said  by  M. 
Beugnot,  the  appeal  was  not  made  in  regular  form,  we  cannot 
doubt  tliat,  where  the  case  of  injury  by  the  inferior  judge 
was  made  out,  justice  would  be  done  by  annulling  his  sen- 
tence. The  emperor  or  king  often  presided  here ;  or,  in  his 
absence,  the  count  of  the  palace.  Bishops,  counts,  household 
officers,  and  others  constituted  this  court,  which  is  not  to  be 
confounded  with  that  of  the  seneschal,  having  only  a  local 
jurisdiction  over  the  domains  of  the  cro^vn,  and  which  did 
not  continue  under  the  house  of  Capet.  (Beugnot,  Registres 
des  Arrets,  vol.  i.  p.  15,  18,  in  Documens  Inedits,  1839.) 

This  tribunal,  the  court  of  the  palace,  was  not  founded 
upon  any  feudal  principle ;  and  when  the  right  of  territorial 
justice  and  the  subordination  of  fiefs  came  to  be  thoroughly 
established,  it  ought,  according  to  analogy,  to  have  been 
replaced  by  one  wherein  none  but  the  great  vassals  of  France 
should  have  sat.  Such,  however,  was  not  the  case.  This  is 
a  remarkable  anomaly,  and  a  proof  that  the  spirit  of  mon- 
archy was  not  wholly  extinguished.  For,  weak  as  was  the 
crown  under  the  first  Capets,  their  court,  though  composed 
of  persons  by  no  means  the  peers  of  all  who  were  amenable 
to  it,  gave  several  judgments  afFectmg  some  considerable 
feudataries,  such  as  the  count  of  Anjou  under  Robert.  (Id. 
p.  22.)  No  court  composed  only  of  great  vassals  appears  in 
the  eleventh  or  twelfth  centuries ;  no  notion  of  judicial  subor- 
dination prevailed ;  the  vassals  of  the  crown  sat  with  those 
of  the  duchy  of  France ;  and  latterly  even  clerks  came  in  as 
assessors  or  advisers,  though  without  suffrage  (p.  31).  But 
an  important  event  brought  forwai'd,  for  the  first  time,  the 
true  feudal  principle.  This  was  the  summons  of  John,  as 
duke  of  Normandy,  to  justify  himself  as  to  the  death  of 
Arthur.  It  has  been  often  said  that  twelve  peers  of  France 
had  appeared  at  the  coronation  of  Philip  Augustus,  in  1179. 
This,  however,  a  late  writer  has  denied,  and  does  not  place 
them  higher  than  the  proceedings  against  John,  in  1204. 
(Id.  p.  44.)  In  civil  causes,  as  has  above  been  said,  there 
had  been  several  instances  wherein  the  king's  court  had 
pronounced  judgment  against  vassals  of  the  crown.  The  idea 
had  gained  ground  that  the  king,  by  virtue  of  his  full  pre- 
rogative, communicated  to  all  who  sat  in  that  court  a  portion 
of  his  own  sovereignty.    Such  an  opinion  would  be  sanctioned 


Chap.  II.  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT.  327 

by  the  bishops,  and  by  all  who  leaned  towai'ds  the  imperial 
theory  of  jrovernment,  never  quite  eradieated  in  the  church. 
But  the  hiirh  rank  of  John,  and  the  important  con.Neiiuenoes 
likely  to  result  from  his  condeuuiatiou,  forbade  any  irregularity 
of  which  advantage  might  be  taken.  John  is  always  said  to 
have  been  sentenced,  "judicio  parium  suorum  ;"  whence  we 
may  conehide  that  inferior  lords  did  not  take  a  part.  (Id. 
ibid.)  And  from  that  time  we  tind  abundimt  proofs  of  the 
{peerage  of  France,  composed  of  six  lay  and  six  spiritual 
persons;  though  ujion  this  supposition  Normandy  was  never 
a  substiinti;d  member  of  that  class,  having  oidy  appeared  for 
a  moment,  to  vjuiish  in  the  next  by  its  reunion  to  the  domain. 
The  feudal  jirinciple  seemed  now  to  have  recovered 
strength :  a  riglit  wliich  the  vassals  had  never  enjoyed, 
though  in  consistency  their  due,  was  foi'mally  conceded.  But 
it  was  too  late  in  the  thirteenth  century  to  render  any  new 
privilege  available  agiunst  the  royal  power.  Though  it  was 
from  that  time  an  uncontested  right  of  the  peers  to  be  tried 
by  some  of  their  order,  this  was  consti*ued  so  as  not  to  ex- 
clude others,  in  any  nund)or,  and  with  equivalent  suffrage. 
One  or  more  peers  Itcing  present,  the  court  was,  in  a  later 
phrase,  "  suflisanmient  garnie  de  pairs  ; "  and  thus  the  lives 
and  rights  of  the  dukes  of  Guienne  or  Burgundy  were  at  the 
mercy  of  mere  law}ers. 

Note  XVI II.     Page  249. 

Savigny,  in  Ins  History  of  Roman  Law  in  the  Middle 
Ages,  and  Iliiynouard,  in  his  Histoire  du  Droit  Municipal 
(1828).  have,  since  the  fir.st  ])iil)licati()n  of  this  work  in  1818, 
traced  the  contimumce  of  municipal  institutions,  in  several 
French  cities,  from  tlie  age  of  the  Roman  empire  to  the 
twelfth  ct-ntury,  when  the  ibrmal  charters  of  connnuuities 
first  appear.  But  it  will  render  the  subject  clearer  if  we 
look  at  the  constitution  wliich  Rome  gave  to  the  cities  of 
Itidy,  and  ultimately  of  the  jirovinces.  We  are  not  concerned 
with  the  privileges  of  Roman  citizen.'^hip,  whether  local  or 
jM-r.-onal,  but  with  those  appertaining  to  each  city.  Tlie.se 
were  originally  founded  on  the  republican  institutions  of 
Rome  herself;  the  supreme  power,  so  far  as  it  was  conceded, 
juid  the  choice  of  magi-trates,  rested  with  the  assembly  of 
the  citizen.s.     But  after  Tiberius   took  this  away  from  the 


328  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT.  Notes  to 

Roman  comitia  to  vest  it  in  the  senate,  it  appears  that,  either 
through  imitation  or  by  some  imperial  edict,  this  exam|)le  Avas 
followed  in  every  provincial  city.  "We  find  everywhere  a 
class  named  "  curiales,"  or  "  decui'iones  "  (synonymous  words), 
in  whom,  or  in  those  elected  by  them,  resided  whatever  au- 
thority was  not  reserved  to  the  proconsul  or  other  Roman 
magistrate.  Though  these  words  occur  in  early  writers,  it 
must  be  admitted  that  our  chief  knowledge  of  the  internal 
constitution  of  provincial  cities  is  derived  from  the  rescripts 
of  the  later  emperors,  especially  in  the  Theodosian  code. 

The  decurions  are  several  times  mentioned  by  Pliny. 
In  Greek  or  Asiatic  towns  the  word  fSovTir)  answered  to  curia, 
and  (jovXevTTjg  to  decurio.  Pliny  refers  to  a  lex  Pompeia, 
probably  of  the  great  Pompey,  which  appears  to  have  regu- 
lated the  internal  constitution,  at  least  of  the  Pontic  and 
Bithynian  cities.  According  to  this,  the  members  of  the 
council,  or  povAv,  were  named  by  certain  censors,  to  whose 
list  the  emperor,  in  the  time  of  Pliny,  added  a  few  by 
especial  favor.  (Plin.  Epist.  x.  113.)  In  later  times  the 
decurions  are  said  to  have  chosen  their  own  members,  which 
can  mean  little  more  than  that  the  form  of  election  was 
required,  for  birth  or  property  gave  an  inchoate  title.  They 
were  a  local  aristocracy,-^  requiring  perhaps  originally  the 
qualification  of  wealth,  w^hich  in  the  time  of  Pliny,  at  least 
in  Asia,  was  of  a  hundred  thousand  sesterces,  or  about  800^. 
(Epist.  i.  19.)  But  latterly  it  appears  that  every  son  of  a 
decurion  inherited  the  rights  as  well  as  the  liabilities  of  his 
father.  We  read,  "  qui  origine  sunt  curiales,"  and  "  honor 
quern  nascendo  meruit."  Property,  how^ever,  gave  a  similar 
title ;  every  one  possessing  twenty-five  jugera  of  freehold 
ought  to  be  inscribed  in  the  order.  This  title,  honorable  to 
Roman  ears,  ordo  decurionum,  or  simply  ordo,  is  always 
applied  to  them.  They  were  summoned  on  the  Kalends  of 
March  to  choose  municipal  officers,  of  whom  the  most  re- 
markable were  the  duumvirs,  answerins;  to  the  consuls  of 
the  imperial  city.  These  possessed  a  slight  degree  of  civil 
and  criminal  jurisdiction,  and  were  bound  to  maintain  the 
peace.  They  belonged,  however,  only  to  cities  enjoying  the 
jus  Italicum,  a  distinction  into  which  we  need  not  now  in- 
quire ;  and  Savigny  maintains  that,  in  Gaul  especially,  which 

1  Though  I  use  this  word,  which  ex-    of  law,  the  decurions  were  "  nulla  prsediti 
presses  a  general  truth,  yet,  la  strictness    dignitate."     (Cod.  Theod.  12,  1,  6. J 


Chap.  II.  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT.  329 

wc  cliictly  rt'jranl,  no  local  inaj]jistrate,  in  a  proper  sense, 
ever  existed,  tiie  whole  jnri^diotion  devolving  on  the  impe- 
rial otficers.  This  is  far  from  the  representation  of  Raynou- 
ard.  who,  thonjrh  writinir  after  Savijrny,  seems  ij^iiorant  of 
his  work,  nor  lias  it  been  adopted  by  later  French  inipiirers. 

IJiit  another  institntion  is  highly  remarkable,  and  does 
pccidiar  honor  to  the  great  empire  which  established  it,  that 
of  Defen-or  C'ivitatis  —  a  standing  advocate  for  the  city 
against  the  oppression  of  the  provincial  governor.  Ilis 
otfice  is  only  known  by  the  laws  from  the  middle  of  the 
fourth  century,  the  earliest  being  of  Valentinian  and  Valens, 
in  ."30.3  ;  but  both  Cicero  (Epist.  xii.  0(1)  and  Pliny  (Epist. 
X.  3)  mention  an  Ecilicus  with  something  like  the  same 
functions  :  and  Justinian  alwavs  uses  that  word  to  express 
the  Defensor  Civiiatis.  He  was  chosen  for  rive  years,  not 
by  the  curiales,  l)ut  by  the  citizens  at  large.  Nor  could  any 
decuriou  l)e  defensor ;  he  was  to  be  taken  "  ex  aliis  idoneis 
personis ; "  which  Raynouard  tnuislates,  "  among  the  most 
distinguished  inhahitaitts ;"  a  sense  neither  necessary  nor 
probable.  (Cod.  Thettd.  i.  tit.  xi. ;  Du  Cange ;  Troja,  iii. 
lOCri ;  Raynouard.  i.  71.) 

The  duties  of  the  defensor  will  best  appear  by  a  passage 
in  a  rescript  of  a.d.  3>s5,  inserted  in  the  Code  of  Justinian  :  — 
'•Scilicet,  ut  in  ]irimis  parentis  vieeni  plebi  exhilteas.  descrip- 
tionilnis  rusticos  url)anos(pie  non  panaris  attligi ;  oliicialiuni 
insolentiae  et  judicum  procjicitati,  salva  reverentia  pudoris, 
ocourra.s ;  ingrediendi  cum  voles  ad  judicem  liberam  habeas 
facultatem ;  super  exigendi  dannia,  vel  spolia  plus  petentium 
ab  his  quos  liberorum  loco  tueri  debes,  excludas ;  nee  patiaris 
quid(]uani  ultni  didegationem  solitam  ab  his  exigi,  quos  certum 
est  ni«i  tali  renn-ilio  non  posse  reparari."  (Cod.  i.  55,  4.) 
lint  the  Defeiixires  were  also  magistrates  and  preservers  of 
order:  — ''  Per  omnes  regiones  in  quibus  fera  et  periculi  sui 
nes<-ia  latronum  fi-rvet  iiisania,  |)roltatissimi  quicpie  et  dis- 
tricii«>in>i  dt-fensores  adsint  disciplin;e,  et  quotidianis  actibus 
pne-int,  (jui  non  sinant  crimina  im|)unita  coalescere  ;  remove- 
ant  putrocinia  cpia-  favorem  reis,  et  auxilium  scelerosis  im- 
parti<Midu,  maturari  scelera  feccrunt."  (Id.  i.  55,  0.  See, 
too,  Tln'od.  nhi  xiiprd.) 

Ii  may  Maliiniliy  be  doubted  whether  the  principles  of 
Irci-doiii  ;iim1  jii-tice,  which  dii-tatid  tliesf  muiiii'i|pal  iii-litu- 
lions  of  the  empire,  were  fully  carried  out  in  tiritl.      Per- 


330  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT.  Notes  to 

liaps  it  might  be  otherwise  even  iu  the  best  times  —  those  of 
Trajan  and  the  Antonines.  But  in  the  dechne  of  the  empire 
we  find  a  strikino;  revohition  in  tlie  condition  of  the  decurions. 
Tliose  evil  days  rendered  necessary  an  immense  pressm-e  of 
taxation ;  and  the  artificial  scheme  of  imperial  policy,  intro- 
duced by  Diocletian  and  perfected  by  Constantine,  had  for 
its  main  object  to  drain  the  resources  of  the  provinces  for  the 
imperial  treasury.  The  decurions  were  made  liable  to  such 
heavy  burdens,  their  responsibility  for  local  as  well  as  puljlic 
charges  was  so  extensive  (in  every  case  their  private  estates 
being  required  to  make  up  the  deficiency  in  the  general  tax), 
that  the  barren  honors  of  the  office  afforded  no  compensation, 
and  many  endeavored  to  shun  them.  This  responsibility, 
indeed,  of  the  decurions,  and  their  obligation  to  remain  in 
the  city  of  the  domicile,  as  well  as  their  frequent  desire  to 
escape  from  the  burdens  of  their  lot,  is  manifest  even  in  the 
Digest,  that  is,  in  the  beginning  of  the  third  century  (when 
the  opinions  of  the  lawyers  therein  collected  were  given), 
while  the  empire  was  yet  unscathed ;  but  the  evil  became  more 
flagrant  in  subsequent  times.  The  laws  of  the  fourth  and 
fifth  centuries,  in  the  Theodosian  code,  perpetually  compel 
the  decurions,  under  severe  penalties,  to  remain  at  home  and 
undergo  their  onerous  duties.  These  laws  are  192  in  num- 
ber, filling  the  first  title  of  the  twelfth  book  of  that  code. 
Guizot  indeed,  Savigny,  and  even  Raynouard  (though  his  bias 
is  always  to  magnify  municipal  institutions),  have  drawn 
from  this  source  such  a  picture  of  the  condition  of  the  decurions 
in  the  last  two  centuries  of  the  western  empire,  that  we  are 
almost  at  a  loss  to  reconcile  this  absolute  impoverishment  of 
their  order  with  other  facts  which  apparently  bear  witness  to 
a  better  state  of  society.  Foi",  gi'eatly  fallen  as  the  decurions 
of  the  provincial  cities  must  be  deemed,  in  comparison  with 
their  earlier  condition,  there  was  still,  at  the  beginning  of 
the  fifth  century,  especially  in  Gaul,  a  liberal  class  of  good 
family,  and  not  of  ruined  fortunes,  dwelling  mostly  in  cities, 
or  sometimes  in  villas  or  country  houses  not  remote  from 
cities,  from  whom  the  church  was  replenished,  and  who  kept 
up  the  politeness  and  luxury  of  the  empire.^  The  senators 
or  senatorial  families  are  often  mentioned ;  and  by  the  latter 

1  The  letters  of  Sidonius   Apollinaris  have  been  much  better  before.     Salvian, 

bear  abundant  testimony  to  thi?.  even  too,  in  his  declamation  against  the  vices 

for  his  age,  which  was  after  the  middle  of  of  the  provincials,  gives  us  to  understand 

the  century  ;  and  the  state  of  Gaul  must  that  they  were  the  vices  of  wealth. 


Chap.  n.  MUNICIPAL  GOVEKXilEXT.  331 

term  we  perceive  that  aii  hereditary  nobiUty,  whatever  might 
be  the  case  with  some  of  the  barbarimi  nations,  subsisted  in 
public  t'-tiination,  if  not  in  privik-ge,  among  their  Roman 
fubjects.  The  word  senate  api»ear.s  to  be  sometimes  u.-ed 
for  the  curia  at  hirge ;  ^  but  when  we  tind  senatoriiis  ordo, 
or  seiuiton'itin  (/etais,  we  may  refer  it  to  the  higher  chiss,  who 
had  served  municipal  ollices,  or  had  become  privileged  by 
imperial  favor,  and  to  whom  the  title  of  "  ehirissimi  "  legally 
belonged.  It  seems  probable  that  this  appellative  senator, 
rather  than  senior,  has  given  rise  to  seigneur,  sire,  and  the 
like  in  modern  languages.  The  word  seiiafurius  ai)i)ears 
early  to  have  acquired  the  meaning  noble  or  gentlemanlike  ; 
though  I  do  not  tind  tliis  in  the  dictionaries.  This  is,  I  con- 
ceive, what  I'liny  means  by  the  "  c[uidam  senatorius  decor," 
which  he  ascribes  to  his  young  son-in-law  Acilianus.  (Ei)ist. 
i,  1-i.)  It  is  the  atr  noble,  the  indescribable  look,  rarely  met 
with  except  in  persons  of  good  birth  and  liberal  habits.  In 
the  age  of  Pliny  this  could  only  refer  to  the  Koman  senate." 
A  great  number  of  laws  in  this  copious  title  of  the  Theo- 
dosiaii  code,  many  of  which  are  cited  by  Kaynouard  (vol.  i.  ]). 
80),  manifest  a  distinction  between  the  curia  and  the  senate, 
or,  as  it  is  sometimes  called,  "  nobilissima  curia ; "  and 
though  perha[)s,  in  certain  instances,  they  may  be  referred  to 
the  great  senates  of  Rome  or  Constantinople,  which  were  the 
fountains  of  all  provincial  dignity  of  tiiis  kind,  there  are  oth- 
ers which  can  only  be  explained  on  the  supposition  that  they 
rehite  to  (hcurions,  as  it  were  emeriti,  and  promoted  to  a 
higher  rank.  Thus,  one  of  Valentiuian  and  Valens,  in  oG4, 
which  Ls  the  earliest  that  seems  explicit :  —  "  Nemo  ad  ordi- 
nem  senatfjrium  ante  functionera  omnium  munerum  munici- 
palium  senator  accedat.  Cum  autem  universis  transactis, 
patriae  stipemlia  fuerit  emensus,  turn  eum  ita  ordinis  senatorii 
complexus    excipiel,  ut    reposcentium   civium    Hagitatio    non 

'  ThU  wa«  rather  by  analoip'  than  in  3  1  pposumo  thiit  Sidoniu>i  Apollinaris 

atriftUfitii:  thuH.  ••  Sure.  Ji  .'i>(/iri  o/>or/f<,  muan8  80Uifthiii|{  complimeiitjiry   wluro 

curis  (MTiatori-iii.''     (Mb.   12.   tit.   1.  lex  he  giiys  —  "  Pramlobamu.s  brfvittT.  diiij- 

85.)     Hut  |MTlin|iM  the  lauKUiiKC  ill  illlTer-  oso.  senatoriuin  ad  niorem;  (|UO  iii.«itum 

«-i.'                 f  tin-  i-iiipin-,  or  ill  dUIcri'nt  iii.'ititiituiiii|Uc  iiiultus  epuliuf  pauci.s  pa- 

I"                  .lit  not  »>«•  tlic  name.    The  liiw  rop^iilihuM  Hppoiii."  —  Epist.  ii.  'J. 

J                         '    ^'^  'liiit.     Kilt  Mnjorlun  The  heri'ilitary  nobility  of  the  senate, 

^                                          >  I'l  ill  till-  Ue.-it.  of  iiii|ilyiin;  purity  of  IjIooiI,  wan  reootfui/.eil 

til                                    iMi  (-iitiiui  riM'te  ap-  Very  early   in    imperial    itonie.      Hy    tlio 

|M-iuiMt   iinii<|iii(iu<    iiiiiioreui  Miiiatuin.''  lex  .hilia.  the  de.'^cencluntt  of  nenatorH  to 

(liothofr<-<l.  ill  l<v.  KO.  auprl  cltat.)    Sonio  the  fourth  (feneration  were  ineapable  of 

luoleru   wriu-n   t'x)  luiirli  confound  all  murrylii); /i6t:rn';i(Z. — Dig.  X-xlil.  2,  44. 
who  nn-  (lenouilim(e<l  nviiaton  with   the 
curiitlua. 


332  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT.  Notes  to 

fatiget."  (Lex.  Ivii.)  The  second  title  of  the  sixth  book  of 
the  Theodosian  code,  "  De  Senatoribus,"  is  unfortunately  lost ; 
but  Gothofred  has  restored  a  Paratitlon  from  other  parts  of 
the  same  code,  and  especially  from  the  title  above  mentioned, 
in  the  twelfth  book,  by  reference  to  which  this  part  of  the 
imperial  constitution  will  be  best  understood.  It  ajjpears  dif- 
ficult to  explain  every  passage.  But  on  the  whole  we  cannot 
hesitate  to  agree  with  Guizot  and  Savigny,  that  the  name  of 
senator  was  given  to  a  privileged  class  in  the  provincial  cit- 
ies, who,  having  served  through  all  the  public  functions  of 
the  curia,  were  ■  entitled  to  a  legal  exemption  in  future,  and 
ascended  to  the  dignity  of  "  Clarissimi."  Many  others,  inde- 
pendent of  the  decurions,  obtained  this  rather  by  the  empe- 
ror's favor,  or  by  the  performance  of  duties  wdiich  regularly 
led  to  it.  They  were  nominated  by  the  emperor,  and  might 
be  removed  by  him  ;  but  otherwise  their  rank  was  hereditary. 
Those  decurions,  therefore,  who  could  bear  the  burdens  of 
municipal  liabilities  without  impoverishment,  rose  so  far 
above  them  that  their  families  were  secure  in  wealth  as  well 
as  privilege.  Thus  the  word  senator  must  be  taken,  in  rela- 
tion to  them,  as  merely  an  aristocratic  distinction,  without 
regard  to  its  original  sense.-^  It  is  sufficiently  clear  that  sen- 
atorial families,  by  whatever  means  separated  from  the  rest, 
constituted  the  nobility  of  Gaul.  Thus  we  read  in  Gregory  of 
Tours  (lib.  ii.  c.  21,  suh  ami.  475)  —  "  Sidonius  vir  secun- 
dum sseculi  dignitatem  nobilissimus,  et  de  primis  Galliarum 
senatoribus,  ita  ut  filiam  sibi  Aviti  imperatoris  in  matrimonio 
sociarit."  Another  is  called  "  vir  valde  nobilis  et  de  primis 
senatoribus  Galliarum."  Other  passages  from  the  same  his- 
torian might  be  adduced.  But  this  is  not  to  our  immediate 
purpose,  which  is  to  trace  briefly  the  state  of  municipal  insti- 
tutions in  Gaul.  The  senatorial  order,  or  Roman  provincial 
nobility,  of  which  we  have  just  been  speaking,  is  different. 
Raynouard,  the  diligent  elucidator  of  this  great  question, 
answers  the  very  specious  objection  of  Mably,  drawn  from  the 
silence  of  the  capitularies,  which,  though  addressed  to  many 
classes  of  magistrates,  never  mention  any  peculiar  to  the  cit- 
ies, by  observing  that  these  capitularies  were  not  designed  for 

1  For  this  distinction  between  ciiriales  all  of  which  throw  some  light  upon,  or 

and  senatores   the   reader  may   consult  relate   to,   this   i-ather  obscure   subject, 

the  title  of  the  Theodosian  code  on  De-  Guizot,  Savigny,  and  Kaynouard  are  the 

curions,  above  cited.  Leg.  82.  90,  93.  108,  modern  guides. 
110,  111,  118, 122, 129, 130, 180, 182, 183; 


Cii.vr.  II.  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT.  333 

those  wlio  livt'tl  bv  the  Roinau  l:nv.  (^'<ll.  ii.  p.  IGO.)  Sa- 
vigny  had  ahvatly  made  the  same  remark.  There  s^eems  to 
be  some  fun-c  iii'this  answer;  and  at  Ica-^t  it  is  impossible  to 
arsriie  wilh  iMably.  from  a  ucpitiv.-  probability,  against  the 
indisputable  evidenee  that  tin-  numieipal  magistrates  of  some 
cities  were  in  being.  It  may  be  justly  doubted,  indeed, 
whether  thev  pos.sessed  a  eonsiderable  autliority.  Sulijeet  to 
the  count,  as  the  great  depositary  of  royal  power,  they  would 
not  perhaps  be  held  worthy  of  receiving  immediate  commands 
from  the  sovereign  in  the  national  council.  Troja  speaks  wilh 
contempt  of  the.-e  "  curia-,"  whose  ciiief  business  was  to  regis- 
ter testaments  and  witness  deals  :  "  Son  sempre  i  medisimi 
ed  anche  dcristirj  i  ricordi  delle  curie  ridotte  alle  funzioni  di 
registrar  testamenti.  dona/,ii)ni  e  contratti,  o  ad  elegger  mag- 
istrati  che  non  poteano  difendere  il  Komano  dalle  violenze  dei 
Franchi,  senza  Tintervenzione  de'  vescovi  di  sangue  Romano, 
o  di  sangue  barbarico ;  ma  in  vano  si  cercherebbe  la  vita  e  la 
jKissanza  della  curia  Roniana  in  quest!  vani  simulacri." 
(Vol.  i.  part  \.  p.  1  ■!'■>.)  They  might  be,  nevertheless,  quite 
as  important  as  under  the  later  emperors. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  conclude  that  every  city  in  which  the 
curia  or  the  defensor  subsisted  during  the  imperial  govern- 
ment retained  those  institutions  throughout  the  domination  of 
the  Franks.  It  appears  that  the  functions  of  ''defensor  civ- 
itatis."  that  is  to  sav,  the  protection  of  the  city  against  arbi- 
trary acts  of  the  provincial  governors,  and  the  exercise  of 
jurisdiction  within  its  IxMindaries.  frequently  devolved  upon 
the  bishoj).  It  is  impos>ililt;  not  to  recognize  the  etlicacy  of 
episcopal  government  in  sustaining  municii)al  rights  during 
the  first  dvnasty.  Tin'  bishops  were  a  link,  or  rather  a 
shield,  between  the  baritarians  who  respected  them  and  the 
people  whom  they  protected,  and  to  wiiose  race  they  for  a 
long  lime  commonly  belonged.  But  the  bishop  was  legally, 
anil  .-oinetimes  aftually,  elected,  as  the  defen>or  had  been,  by 
the  people  at  large.  This,  indeed,  ceased  to  be  tlie  case  be- 
fore the  reign  of  Charlemagne;  and  the  crown,  or  (in  the 
progress  of  tlie  feudal  system)  its  chief  vassals,  usurped  the 
power  of  n(iminalion,  though  the  tbrmality  of  eleclion  was 
not  alK)li»he<l.  Certain  it  is  that  from  this  analogy  to  the  de- 
fensor, and  from  the  still  closer  analogy  to  llie  feudal  vassal, 
after  royal  grants  of  jurisdiction  and  innnunity  l)ec;nne  usual, 
not  le.■^s  than  by  the  respect  due  to  his  station,  tiie  bishop 


334  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT.  Notes  to 

became  as  much  the  civil  governor  of  his  city  as  the  count 
was  of  the  rural  district. 

This  was  a  great  revolution  in  the  internal  history  of  cit- 
ies and  one  which  generally  led  to  the  discontinuance  of  their 
popular  institutions ;  so  that  after  the  reign  of  Charlemagne, 
if  not  earlier,  we  may  perhaps  consider  a  municipality  choos- 
ing its  own  officers  as  an  exception,  though  not  a  very  unfre- 
quent  one,  to  the  general  usage.  But  instances  of  this  are 
more  commonly  found  to  the  south  of  the  Loire,  where  Ro- 
man laws  prevailed  and  the  feudal  spirit  was  less  vigorous 
than  in  the  northern  provinces.  Thus  Raynouard  has  de- 
duced the  municipal  government  of  ten  cities  from  the  fifth 
to  the  twelfth  century.  Seven  of  these  are  of  the  south  — 
Perigneux,  Bourges,  Aries,  Nismes,  Marseilles,  Toulouse, 
and  Narbonne ;  tlii-ee  only  of  the  north  —  Paris,  Rheims. 
and  Metz.  (Vol.  ii.  p.  177.)  It  seems,  however,  more  than 
probable  that  these  were  not  the  whole ;  even  in  the  north 
Meaux  and  Chalons  might  be  added,  and,  what  in  eai-ly 
times  was  undoubtedly  to  be  reckoned  a  Frank  city,  Cologne. 
The  corporate  character  of  many  of  these  is  displayed  by 
their  coins.  "  Civitas  Massiliensis,"  or  "  Narbonensis,"  will  be 
found  on  the  reverse  of  pieces  bearing  the  heads  of  the 
French  kings  of  the  three  dynasties,  especially  under  Louis 
the  Debonair  and  Charles  the  Bald  (p.  152).  But  it  seems 
to  me  that  the  evidence  of  a  popular  assembly  or  curia,  even 
in  Rheims,  which  has  always  been  wont  to  boast  peculiarly 
of  the  antiquity  of  her  privileges,  is  weak  comparatively  with 
what  M.  Raynouard  has  alleged  for  the  cities  of  Provence. 
As  to  Paris,  it  is  absolutely  none  at  all.  This  assembly  ap- 
pears to  have  hardly  survived  in  the  north  of  France,  and  to 
have  been  replaced  by  scabini.  These  were  originally  chos- 
en by  the  citizens,  but  gradually  on  the  bishop's  nomination. 
Those  of  Rheims  appear  in  847,  exercising  their  functions 
under  an  officer  of  the  archbishop.  (Archives  Adrainistra- 
tifs  de  la  Ville  de  Rheims,  Preface,  p.  7,  in  Documens  Liedits, 
1839.  The  editor,  however  (M.  Varin),  inclines  to  adopt  the 
theory  of  a  Roman  origin  for  the  privileges  of  that  city.  The 
citizens  called  themselves  in  991,  addressing  the  archbishop, 
"  cives  tui ; "  whence  M.  Varin  infers  that  they  took  an  oath 
of  allegiance  to  that  prelate,  and  that  their  claims  to  a  pre- 
scriptive independence  must  be  given  up.  (Vol.  i.  p.  156.) 
Such  independence,  (that  is,  of  all  but  tlae  sovereign)  can  at 


Chap.  II.  .MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT.  335 

most  only  be  admitted  as  to  the  great  cities  of  Provence  and 
LangiK'doc,  which  in  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries  en- 
tered into  treaties  witli  fureijin  powers,  and  conducted  tlicin- 
selves  as  independent  republics,  though  perhaps  under  the 
nominal  superiority  of  the  counts.  Emulous,  as  it  appears, 
of  Italian  liberty,  they  adopted  the  government  l)y  consuls 
elected  by  the  community.  And  this  honorable  title  was 
given  to  the  chief  magistrates  in  most  cities  south  of  the 
Loire,  though  a  ditierent  system,  as  we  shall  see,  prevailed 
on  the  other  bank. 

The  Benedictine  liistorians  of  Languedoc  are  of  opinion 
that  the  city  of  Nismes  had  municipal  magistrates  in  the  mid- 
dle of  the  tenth  century  (t.  ii.  p.  111).  The  hurgesses  of 
Carcassonne  appear  by  name  in  a  charter  of  1107  {\).  515). 
In  one  of  1131  the  consuls  of  Beziers  are  mentioned  ;  they 
existed  therefore  previously  (p.  409,  and  Appendix,  p.  950). 
The  magistrates  of  St.  Antonin  en  Kouergue  are  named  in 
113G;  those  of  Montpellier  in  1142;  of  Narbonne  in  1148; 
and  of  St.  Gilles  in  1149  (p.  515,  432,  442,  464).  The 
capitouls  of  Toulouse  yirt-tund  to  an  extravagant  antiquity ; 
but  were  in  fact  established  by  Alfonso  count  of  Toulouse, 
who  died  in  1148.  In  1152  Raymond  V.  confirmed  the  reg- 
ulations made  by  the  common  council  of  Toulouse,  which  be- 
came the  foundation  of  the  customs  of  that  city.    (p.  472). 

If  we  may  trust  altogether  to  the  Assises  de  Jerusalem  in 
their  present  shape,  the  court  of  burgesses,  having  jurisdic- 
tion over  per<on<  of  that  rank,  was  instituted  by  Godfrey  of 
Bouillon,  who  died  in  1  lOO.  (Ass.  de  Jerus.  c.  2.)  This 
would  be  even  earlier  than  the  charter  of  London,  granted 
by  Henry  I.  Lord  Lyttelton  goes  so  far  as  to  call  it  "cer- 
tiiin  that  in  England  many  cities  and  towns  were  bodies  cor- 
porate and  connnunities  long  before  the  alteration  introduced 
into  France  by  the  charters  of  Louis  le  Gros."  (Hist,  of 
Ili'urv  IT.  vol.  iv.  p.  29.)  But  this  position,  as  I  shall  more 
particularly  .show  in  another  place,  is  not  borne  out  by 
any  good  authority,  if  it  extends  to  any  internal  jurisdiction 
and  management  of  their  own  police ;  whereof,  except  in  tiie 
in-»t;ince  of  London,  we  have  no  proof  before  the  reign  of 
Henry  II. 

The  legal  iuorporation  of  communities  was  perhaps  ear- 
lier in  Spain  than  in  any  other  country.  AHbn<o  V.  in  1020 
granted  a  charter  to  Leon,  which  is  said  to  mention  the  com- 


336  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT.  Notes  to 

mon  council  of  that  city  in  terms  that  show  it  to  be  an  estab- 
lished institution.  During  the  latter  part  of  the  eleventh 
century,  as  well  as  in  subsequent  times,  such  charters  are 
very  frequent.  (^larina,  Ensayo  Historico-Critico  sobre  las 
sieta  partidas.)  In  several  instances  we  find  concessions  of 
smaller  privileges  to  towns,  without  any  political  power. 
Tlius  Berenger,  count  of  Barcelona,  in  1025  confirms  to  the 
inhabitants  of  that  city  all  the  franchises  which  they  already 
possess.  These  seem,  however,  to  be  confined  to  exemption 
from  paying  rent  and  from  any  jurisdiction  below  that  of  an 
ofiicer  deputed  by  the  count.  (De  Marca,  Marca  Hispanica, 
p.  1038.)  Another  grant  occurs  in  the  same  volume  (p. 
909),  from  the  bishop  of  Barcelona  in  fevor  of  a  town  of  his 
diocese.  By  some  inattention  Robertson  has  quoted  these 
charters  as  granted  to  "  two  villages  in  the  county  of  Rousil- 
lon."  (Hist.  Charles  V.  note  16.)  The  charters  of  Tortosa 
and  Lerida  in  1149  do  not  contain  any  grant  of  jui'isdictioa 
(p.  1303). 

The  corporate  towns  in  France  and  England  always  en- 
joyed fuller  privileges  than  these  Catalonian  charters  impart. 
The  essential  characteristics  of  a  commune,  according  to  M. 
Brequigny,  were  an  association  confirmed  by  charter ;  a  code 
of  fixed  sanctioned  customs  ;  and  a  set  of  privileges,  always 
including  municipal  or  elective  government.  (Ordonnances, 
p.  3.)  A  distinction  ought,  however,  to  be  pointed  out, 
which  is  rather  liable  to  elude  observation,  between  com- 
munes, or  corporate  towns,  and  boroughs  (bourgeoisies).  The 
main  ditference  was  that  in  the  latter  there  was  no  elective 
government,  the  magistrates  being  appointed  by  the  king  or 
other  superior.  In  the  possession  of  fixed  privileges  and  ex- 
emptions, in  the  personal  liberty  of  their  inhabitants,  and  in 
the  certainty  of  their  legal  usages,  there  was  no  distinction 
between  corporate  towns  and  mere  boroughs  :  and  indeed  it  is 
agreed  that  every  corporate  town  was  a  borough,  though  ev- 
ery borough  was  not  a  corporation.-^  The  French  antiquary 
quoted  above  does  not  trace  these  inferior  communities  or 
boroughs  higher  than  the  charters  of  Louis  VI.  But  we 
find  the  name  and  a  good  deal  of  the  substance,  in  England 

1  The  preface  to  the  twelfth  volume  of  it,  however,  is  applicable  to  both  spo- 
of Ordonnances  des  Hois  contains  a  full  cies,  or  rather  to  the  genus  and  the 
account  of  bourgeoisies,  as  that  to  the  species.  See,  too,  tliat  to  the  fourteenth 
eleventh  does  oi  communes.   A  great  part  volume  of  Recueil  des  Historiens,  p.  74. 


CiiAi-.  IT.  MUNIClPxVL  GOVERXMENT.  337 

under  "William  the  Conqueror,  as  is  uumifest  from  Domes- 
day-Book. 

It  is  evident  tliat  if  exten-ive  privilefres  of  internal  gov- 
ernment had  been  preserved  in  the  north  of  Franee,  there 
could  have  been  no  need  for  that  great  movement  towards 
the  close  of  tlie  eleventh  centiny,  whieh  ended  in  cstab- 
lishinET  civic  freedom  ;  much  less  coidd  tlie  contemporary  histo- 
rians luive  siKiken  of  this  as  a  new  eiti  in  the  state  of  France. 
The  bishops  were  now  almost  sovereign  in  their  cities ;  the 
episcopal,  tlie  iiiunieipal,  tlie  feudal  titles,  conspired  to  en- 
hance their  power  ;  and  from  lieing  the  protectors  of  the  peo- 
ple, from  the  glorious  otfice  of  defensores  civitatis,  they  had, 
in  many  places  at  lea^t,  become  odious  l>y  their  own  exac- 
tions. Hence  the  citizens  of  Cambray  tirst  revolted  against 
their  bishoi)  in  9.")7,  and,  after  several  ineffectnal  risings,  ulti- 
mately constituted  themselves  into  a  conununity  in  107(>.  The 
citizens  of  Man-,  about  the  latter  tim(\  had  the  courage  to 
resist  William  Duke  of  Normandy ;  l»nt  tliis  generous  at- 
tempt at  freedom  was  premature.  The  cities  of  Noyon, 
Beauvais,  Und  St.  Quentin,  altout  the  l»egiiniing  of  the  next 
century,  Avere  successful  in  obtaining  diarters  of  imnuniity 
and  self-government  from  their  bishops ;  and  where  these 
were  violated,  on  one  side  or  the  other,  the  king.  Louis  VI., 
came  in  to  redress  the  injured  party  or  to  compose  the  dis- 
sensions of  both.  Hence  arose  the  royal  cliarters  of  the 
Picard  cities,  which  soon  extended  to  other  parts  of  France, 
an<l  were  used  as  exani]d<'s  l)y  the  vassals  of  the  crown. 
This  sul)ject.  and  especially  the  struggles  of  the  cities  against 
the  bishops  before  the  legal  establisliment  of  comnmnities  by 
charter,  is  abundantly  discussed  by  ]\[.  Thierry,  iji  his  Let- 
tres  sur  rHi>toir('  de  France.  But  even  where  charters  are 
extant,  tliey  do  not  always  create  an  incorporated  community, 
Ijut,  as  at  Laon,  recognize  and  regulate  an  internal  society 
already  establi-becl.      ((Juizot,  Civilisation  en  Franee,  Lefon 

We  must  here  distinguisii  the  cities  of  Flanders  and  Hol- 
LuhI.  which  obtained  their  independence  miicli  earlier ;  in 
tu-t,  their  scdf-governnn-nt  goes  back  beyond  any  assignable 
date.  (Sismondi,  iv.  432.)  Tliey  appear  to  hav(*  sprung 
from  a  dihtinet  source,  but  still  from  the  great  reservoir  of 
Ii<*man  institutions.  The  cities  on  the  Rhine  retained  more 
of  (heir  ancient  organization  than  we  hnd  in  northein  Fiance. 

VOL.  I.  22 


338  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT.  Notes  to 

The  Roman  language,  says  Thierry,  had  here  perished ; 
the  institutions  survived.  At  Cologne  we  find  from  age  to 
age  a  corporation  of  citizens  exactly  resembling  the  curia, 
and  whose  members  set  up  hereditary  pretensions  to  a  Ro- 
man descent ;  we  find  there  a  particular  tribunal  for  the 
"  cessio  bonorum,"  a  part  of  Roman  law  unknown  to  the  old 
jurisprudence  of  Germany  as  much  as  to  that  of  the  feudal 
system.  In  the  twelfth  century  the  free  constitution  of 
Cologne  passed  for  ancient.  From  Cologne  and  Treves  mu- 
nicipal rights  spread  to  the  Rhenish  cities  of  less  remote 
orio;in,  and  reached  the  great  communities  of  Flanders  and 
Brabant.  Thierry  has  quoted  a  remarkable  passage  from 
the  life  of  the  empress  St.  Adelaide,  who  died  in  999,  whence 
we  may  infer  the  continuance,  at  least  in  common  estimation, 
of  Roman  privileges  in  the  Rhenish  cities.  "  Ante  duodeci- 
mum  circiter  annum  obitus  sui,  in  loco  qui  diciter  Salsa 
(Seltz  in  Alsace),  urbem  decrevit  fieri  sub  libertate  Homand, 
quem  affectum  postea  ad  perfectum  perducit  effectum." 
(Recits  des  T.  M.  i.  274.) 

But  the  acuteness  of  this  writer  has  discovered  a  wholly 
different  origin  for  the  communes  in  the  north  of  France. 
He  deduces  them  from  the  old  Teutonic  institution  of  guilds, 
or  fraternities  by  voluntary  compact,  to  relieve  egich  other  in 
poverty,  or  to  protect  each  other  from  injury.  Two  essential 
characteristics  belonged  to  them ;  the  common  banquet  and 
the  common  purse.  They  had  also  in  many  instances  a  relig- 
ious, sometimes  a  secret,  ceremonial  to  knit  more  firmly  the 
bond  of  fidelity.  Tliey  became,  as  usual,  suspicious  to  gov- 
ernments, as  several  capitularies  of  Charlemagne  prove. 
But  they  spoke  both  to  the  heart  and  to  the  reason  in  a  voice 
which  no  government  could  silence.  They  readily  became 
connected  with  the  exercise  of  trades,  with  the  training  of 
apprentices,  with  the  traditional  rules  of  art.  We  find  them 
in  all  Teutonic  and  Scandinavian  countries  ;  they  are  fre- 
quently mentioned  in  our  Anglo-Saxon  documents,  and  are 
the  basis  of  those  corporations  which  the  Norman  kings  rec- 
ognized or  founded.  The  guild  was,  of  course,  in  its  prima- 
ry character  a  personal  association ;  it  was  in  the  state,  but 
not  the  state ;  it  belonged  to  the  city  without  embracing  all 
the  citizens ;  its  purposes  were  the  good  of  the  fellows  alone. 
But  when  their  good  was  inseparable  from  that  of  their  little 
country,  their  walls  and  churches,  the  principle  of  voluntary 


Chap.  II.  MUNICirAL  GOVERNMENT.  339 

association  \v;i^  readily  extended ;  and  iVom  the  private 
guild,  possessing  alreiuly  the  vital  spirit  of  faitht'ulness  and 
brotherly  love,  sprung  the  sworn  eoniniunity,  the  body  of 
citizens,  bound  by  a  voluntary  but  perpetual  obligation  to 
guard  each  other's  rights  against  the  thefts  of  the  weak  or 
the  tyranny  of  the  powerful. 

Tiie  most  remarkable  proof  of  this  progress  from  a  mer- 
chant guild  to  a  corporation  is  exhibited  in  the  local  history 
of  Piu'is.  No  mention  of  a  curia  or  Roman  municipality  in 
that  citv  has  been  traced  in  any  record :  we  are  driven  to 
Kaynouard's  argument  —  Could  Paris  be  destitute  of  insti- 
tutions wiiich  had  become  the  right  of  all  other  cities  in 
Gaul  ?  A  couple  of  lines,  however,  from  the  poem  of  Guli- 
elmus  Brito,  under  Philip  Augustus,  are  his  only  proof  (vol. 
ii.  p.  2rJ).  But  at  Paris  there  was  a  great  college  or  cor- 
poration of  naiitce  or  marchands  d'eau;  that  is,  who  supplied 
the  town  with  commodities  by  the  navigation  of  the  .Seine.^ 
These,  indeed,  do  not  seem  to  be  traced  very  far  back,  but 
the  necessary  documents  may  be  deticient.  They  apj)car 
al)inidantlv  in  the  twelfth  century,  with  a  provost  and  scabini 
of  their  own.  And  to  this  body  the  kings  in  that  age  con- 
ceded certain  rights  over  the  inhabitants.  The  arms  borne 
by  the  city,  a  ship,  ai-e  those  of  the  college  of  nautce.  The 
subsequent  jirocess  by  which  this  corporation  slid  into  a  nui- 
nicii)ality  is  not  clearly  developed  by  the  writer  to  whom  I 
must  ret't-r. 

Thus  there  were  several  sources  of  the  municipal  institu- 
tions in  France  ;  first,  the  Roman  system  of  ilecurions,  handed 
down  prescript ively  in  some  cities,  but  chiefly  in  the  south ; 
secondly,  the  Gt-'mum  system  of  voluntary  societies  or  guilds, 
spreading  to  the  whole  conununity  for  a  common  end;  thirdly, 
the  forcible  in.-urrection  of  the  inhabitants  against  their  lords 
or  prelates ;  and  hu^tly,  the  charters,  regularly  granted  by 
tiic  king  or  by  tln-ir  imnniliate  superior.  Few  are  like- 
ly now  to  maintain  the  old  tlieory  of  Robertson,  that  the 
kings  of  France  encouraged  the  communities,  in  order  to 
mak<,'  head  witli  tiieir  help  against  the  nol)ility,  which  a  closer 
attention  to  history  refutes.  We  must  here,  however,  dis- 
tinguish the  corponite  towns  or  conununities  from  the  other 

I  1:  III  ■    I  liy  tin-  oiU-    inxtitutioii    uinli-r    Tibt-riuH.      Hut    tliU 

ton  of  1 1  1.1- (:c-iiiiiiif,     iiiiiHt  j)rhiili  fur  it   \>v   suHpiclous   iu  I'O 

the  Nnu!..   1  .......■,.  ^..-;.  ;  .u.utor|K)ruU)     trilling  degrtH;. 


340  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT.  Notes  to 

class,  called  burgages,  bourgeoisies.  The  cliatelains  en- 
couraged the  growth  of  villages  around  their  castles,  from 
whom  they  often  derived  assistance  in  war,  and  conceded  to 
these  burgesses  some  privileges,  though  not  any  municipal 
independence. 

Guizot  observes,  as  a  difference  between  the  curial  system 
of  the  empire  and  that  of  the  French  communes  in  the 
twelfth  century,  that  the  former  was  aristocratic  in  its  spirit ; 
the  decurions  filled  up  vacancies  in  their  body,  and  ultimate- 
ly their  privileges  became  hereditary.  But  the  latter  were 
grounded  on  popular  election,  though  with  certain  modi- 
fications as  to  eligibility.  Yet  some  of  the  aristocratic  ele- 
ments continued  among  the  communes  of  the  south.  (Legon 
48.) 

It  is  to  be  confessed  that  while  the  kings,  from  the  end  of 
the  thirteenth  century,  altered  so  much  their  former  policy  as 
to  restrain,  in  great  measure,  and  even  in  some  instances  to 
overthrow,  the  liberties  of  French  cities,  there  was  too  much 
pretext  for  this  in  their  lawless  spirit  and  proneness  to  injus- 
tice. The  better  class,  dreading  the  populace,  gave  aid  to 
the  royal  authority,  by  admitting  bailiffs  and  provosts  of  the 
crown  to  exercise  jurisdiction  within  their  walls.  But  by  this 
the  privileges  of  the  city  were  gradually  subverted.  (Guizot, 
Lefon  49  ;  Thierry,  Lettre  xiv.)  The  ancient  registers  of 
the  parliament  of  Paris,  called  Olim,  prove  this  continual 
interference  of  the  crown  to  establish  peace  and  order  in 
towns,  and  to  check  their  encroachment  on  the  rights  of  others. 
"  Nulle  part,"  says  M.  Beugnot,  "  on  ne  voit  aussi  bien  que 
les  communes  ^taient  un  instrument  puissant  pour  ojierer 
dans  I'etat  de  grands  et  d'heureux  changemens,  mais  non  une 
institution  qui  cut  en  elle-meme  des  conditions  de  duree." 
(Registres  des  Arrets,  vol.  i.  p.  192,  in  Documens  Inedits, 
1839.) 

A  more  favorable  period  for  civic  liberty  commenced  and 
possibly  terminated  with  the  most  tyrannical  of  French 
kings,  Louis  XI.  Though  the  spirit  of  rebellion,  which 
actuated  a  large  part  of  the  nobles  in  his  reign,  was  not 
strictly  feudal,  but  sprung  much  more  from  the  combination 
of  a  few  princes,  it  equally  put  the  crown  in  jeopardy,  and 
required  all  his  sagacity  to  withstand  its  encroachments.  He 
encouraged,  therefore,  with  a  policy  unusual  in  the  house  of 
Valois,  the  Tiers  Etat,  the  middle  orders,  as  a  counter^joise. 


Chap.  II.  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT.  341 

What  has  erroneously  heen  sjiiil  of  Louis  VI.  is  true  ut'  his 
subtle  de>cendiint.  "  His  onlinauces,"  it  is  remarked  by 
Sisiuondi  (.viv.  314), ''are  distinguished  by  liberal  vnews  in 
go\  eriuaent.  He  not  only  gave  the  citizens,  in  several  plaees, 
the  ehoiee  ot"  their  magistrates,  but  established  an  urban 
militia,  training  the  inhabitants  to  the  use  ot"  arms,  and  plac- 
ing in  their  hands  the  appointment  of  olHcers,"  And  thus, 
at  the  close  of  our  medi;eval  period,  we  leave  the  munici[)al 
auiiiority  of  France  in  no  slight  vigor.  It  may  only  be  added 
that,  .ibr  miscellaneous  information  as  to  the  French  com- 
munes, the  reader  should  have  recourse  to  that  great  reposi- 
torv  of  curious  knowledge,  the  "  Histoire  des  Fraufais,  par 
Monteil,  Siecle  XV." 

The  continuance  of  Italian  municipalities  has  been  more 
disputed  of  late  than  that  of  the  French,  which  both  Savigny 
and  ll;\vnouard  have  placed  beyond  question.  The  former 
of  these  writers  maintains  that  not  only  under  the  Ostrogoths 
and  Greeks  (tiie  latter  indeed  might  naturally  be  expected) 
we  have  abundant  testimony  to  the  ordo  decuriouitm  and 
other  Roman  institutions  in  the  Italian  cities,  but  that,  even 
under  the  Lombard  dominion,  the  same  privileges  were  un- 
im|)aire<l,  or  at  least  not  sul)verted.  This  is  naturally  con- 
nected with  the  general  question  as  to  the  condition  of  the 
natives  in  that  period  ;  those  who  deny  tliem  any  rights  of 
citizenship,  or  even  protection  by  the  law,  will  not  be  inclined 
to  favor  tlie  supposition  of  im  internal  jurisdiction.  Troja 
accordingly,  following  older  writers,  rejects  the  notion  of  civic 
govcrnniciit  in  tiio<e  cities  which  endured  the  Loml)ard  yoke, 
and  eialMirattly  refutes  the  jiroofs  alleged  by  Savigny.  In 
this,  however,  he  does  not  seem  always  successful ;  but  the 
early  records  of  Italian  coniinunilies  are  l)y  no  means  so  de- 
cisive as  those  tiial  we  have  found  in  France. 

Liutprand,  !is  Troja  conceives,  established  communities  of 
L«imbard<  .done.  But  he  suggests  that  even  before  the  reign 
of  Liutprand  there  may  have  i^een  such  a  district  government 
a-  we  linil  mentioned  by  Tacitus  among  the  Germans;  antl 
this  might  possibly  l)e  denominated  by  the  Lombards  curia 
or  nrdo,  in  imitatinn  of  the  Rnnian  names.  If,  therefore,  we 
meet  with  these  terms  in  the  hiws  or  records  of  Italy  before 
Charlemagne,  there  is  no  reason  why  they  should  not  relate 
to  I>oinbards  (p.  12')).     This  is  hardly,  [terhaps,  a  conjecture 


342  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT.    Notes  to  Chap.  II. 

that  Avill  be  favored.  Charlemagne,  however,  when  he  in- 
troduced the  distinction  of  personal  law,  constituted  in  every 
city  a  new  Lombard  community,  taking  its  name  from  the 
most  numerous  people,  but  in  which  each  nation  chose  its 
own  scabini  or  judges  (p.  295). 


It.vlt. 


STATE  OF  ITALY, 


U3 


CHAPTER   III. 

THE  HISTORY  OF  ITALY,  FROM  THE  EXTINCTION  OF  THE 
CAHLOVIXGIAX  EMl'EUOUS  TO  THE  IXVASIOX  OF  XAl'LES 
BV  CHAKLES  VIII. 


TAUT   I. 

State  of  Italy  after  the  I>eath  of  Charles  the  Fat  — Coronation  of  Otho  the  Oreat  — 
State  of  Rome  —  Conrnl  11.  —  I'liinn  of  the  Kinpdoni  of  Italy  with  the  Enipirc  — 
E.<tahlishment  of  the  Normans  in  Naples  and  Sirily  —  Roger  Guiscard  —  Rise  of 
the  Lomhartl  Cities  —  They  pnulually  lieeome  more  inilepeuilent  of  the  Emjiire  — 
Their  internal  Wars — Frcderir  Barhan)ssa — Destruction  of  Milan  —  Lombard 
League  —  Rattle  of  I>«>jrnano  —  Peace  of  Constance  —  Temporal  Principality  of  the 
Popes  —  Ouelf  and  tihibelin  Factions  —  Otho  IV. —  Frederic  II.  —  Arnini^enient 
of  the  Itjtlian  Repnhlics  —  Second  I/Omhard  War  —  E.vtinction  of  the  House  of 
Swabia  —  Cau.ses  of  the  Success  of  Lombard  Republics  —  Their  Prosperity  —  and 
Forms  of  Government  —  Contentions  between  the  Nobility  and  People  —  Civil 
Wars  —  Story  of  Giovanni  di  Vicenza.l 


At   the  death   of    Charles  the    Fat  in  888,   tliat  part  of 
Italy  which  acknowledged  the  supremacy  of  the  state  of 
Western    empire    was    divided,    like    France    and  i^^'y  «*  the 

Gl.  ,.    ,  111-      P>"1   ff  ttl8 

ermany,  among  a  tew  powertiil  vas<Ml.-j,  iieredi-  ninth 

tary  governors   of   provinces.     The    principal    of  '=*="'"'"y> 


I  The  authorities  upon  which  this 
chapter  is  founded,  and  which  do  not 
always  ufi|>ear  at  the  fixit  of  the  pa<re, 
are  rhii-Hy  the  fi-llowinp.  1.  Munitori"s 
Annals  of  Italy  (twelve  volumes  in  4to. 
or  eifrhtj-en  in  Svr).)  rompndnMiil  a  sum- 
mary of  Its  history  fnmi  the  )M>^ntlnin|!  of 
the  (Christian  cm  to  tin-  \>v»rf  of  Aix  la 
Cha|M'lle.  The  volumes  relaliu);  to  the 
midille  aip-s.  into  which  he  has  digested 
the  ori;riiial  writers  cuntalned  in  his 
pn-nt  cdllertion,  S<-ripton*s  Reruni  Itali- 
carum,  arc  by  niurli  the  l«-st  ;  and  of 
thei*.  the  part  wlilcb  extends  from  the 
seventh  or  eiKhlh  to  the  end  of  the 
twelfth  century  Is  the  fulliwt  and  most 
UMffut.  Munitori's  arcurary  is  in  gen- 
eral nIm'Mt  irnpliciily  to  be  trusted,  and 
hL«  plain  ItiL-urltv  ii|ieakH  In  all  his  writ- 
hiK' :  but  bi  ,-  not  philosophical 

eiioui;li    to  ■.    the  wheat  from 

the  chnfT,  ail  ;   ,,.-  i..ii.its  of  life  Induced 


him  to  annex  an  imapinary  importance 
to  the  dates  of  diplomas  and  other  incon- 
siderable matters.  His  narrative  presents 
a  mere  skeleton  devoid  of  juices  ;  and 
besides  its  intolerable  aridity,  it  labors 
under  that  confusion  whicli  a  merely 
chronological  aiTanpement  of  onncurrent 
and  independent  events  must  always  pro- 
duce. 2.  The  nissertjitions  on  Italian 
Antiquities,  by  the  same  writer,  may  bo 
considered  either  as  one  or  two  workj. 
In  Latin  they  form  six  volumes  in  folio, 
enriched  with  a  preat  number  of  oriiriual 
di'cunietits.  In  It.ili.in  they  are  freely 
translated  by  Muni  tori  himself,  abridged 
no  doubt,  and  without  most  of  (lie  orig- 
inal instruments,  tint  well  furnished  with 
quotations,  ami  ubuiidiintly  sulllcient  for 
most  purposes.  They  fnrm  three  vol- 
umes in  i|uarto.  I  have  in  peiienil 
c|uot4M|  only  the  number  of  the  dihMTla- 
tion,  on  account  of  the  variance  between 


344 


STATE  OF  ITALY. 


Chap.  III.  Pakt  I. 


these  were  the  dukes  of  Spoleto  and  Tuscany,  the  marquises  of 
Ivrea,  Susa,  and  FriuH.  The  great  Lombard  duchy  of  Bene- 
vento,  wliich  had  stood  against  the  arms  of  Charlemagne,  and 
comprised  more  than  half  the  present  kingdom  of  Naples, 
had  now  fallen  into  decay,  and  was  straitened  by  the  Greeks 
in  Apulia,  and  by  the  principahties  of  Capua  and  Salerno, 
which  had  been  severed  from  its  own  territory,  on  the  oppo- 
andinthe  ^^*'®  coast.^  Though  princes  of  the  Carlovingian 
first  part  of  line  Continued  to  reign  in  France,  their  character 
the  tenth.  ^^^^^  ^^^  jj^^^^  distinguished  to  challenge  the  obedi- 
ence of  Italy,  already  separated  by  family  partitions  from  the 
Transalpine  nations ;  and  the  only  contest  was  among  her 


the  Latin  and  Italian  works:  in  cases 
where  the  page  is  referred  to,  I  have  in- 
dicated by  the  title  which  of  the  two  I 
intend  to  vouch.  3.  St.  Marc,  a  learned 
and  laborious  Frenchman,  lias  written  a 
chronological  abridgment  of  Italian  his- 
tory, somewhat  in  the  manner  of  He- 
nault.  but  so  strangely  divided  by  several 
parallel  columns  in  every  page,  that  I 
could  h.T-rdly  name  a  book  more  incon- 
venient to  the  reader.  His  knowledge, 
like  Muratori's,  lay  a  good  deal  in  points 
of  minute  inquiry ;  and  he  is  chiefly  to 
be  valued  in  ecclesiastical  history.  The 
work  descends  only  to  the  thirteenth 
century.  4.  Denina's  Rivoluzioni  d'lta- 
lia,  originally  published  in  1769,  is  a 
perspicuous  and  lively  book,  in  which  the 
principal  circumstances  are  well  selected. 
It  is  not  perhaps  free  from  errors  in  fact, 
and  still  less  from  those  of  opinion  :  but, 
till  lately,  I  do  not  know  from  what 
source  a  general  acquaintance  with  tlie 
history  of  Italy  could  have  been  so  easily 
derived.  .5.  The  publication  of  M.  Sis- 
mondi's  Ilistoire  des  Ilepubliques  Itali- 
ennes  has  thrown  a  blaze  of  light  around 
the  most  interesting,  at  least  in  many 
respects,  of  European  countries  during 
the  middle  ages.  I  am  happy  to  bear 
witness,  so  far  as  my  own  studies  have 
enabled  me,  to  the  learning  and  diUgeuce 
of  this  writer ;  qualities  which  the  world 
is  sometimes  apt  not  to  suppose,  where 
they  perceive  so  much  eloquence  and 
philo.sophy.  I  cannot  express  my  opin- 
ion of  M.  Sismnndi  in  this  respect  more 
strongly  than  by  .saying  that  his  work 
has  almost  superseded  the  Annals  of 
Muratori  ;  I  mean  from  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury ,  before  which  period  his  labor  hariUy 
begins.  Though  doubtless  not  more  ac- 
curate than  Muratori,  he  lias  consulted 
a  much  more  extensive  list  of  authors; 
and,  considered  as  a  register  of  facts 
alone,  his  history  is  inconiparably  more 
useful.    These  are  combined  in  so  skilful 


a  manner  as  to  diminish,  in  a  great  de- 
gree, that  inevitable  confusion  which 
arises  from  frequency  of  transition  and 
want  of  general  unity.  It  is  much  to  be 
regretted  that,  from  too  redundant  de- 
tails of  unnecessary  circumstances,  and 
sometimes,  if  I  may  take  the  liberty  of 
saying  so,  from  unnecessary  reflections, 
M.  Sisuioudi  has  run  into  a  prolixity 
which  will  probably  intimidate  the  lan- 
guid students  of  our  age.  It  is  the  more 
to  be  regretted,  because  the  History  of 
Italian  Republics  is  calculated  to  pro- 
duce a  good  far  more  important  than 
storing  the  memory  with  historical  facts, 
that  of  communicating  to  the  reader's 
bosom  some  sparks  of  the  dignified  phi- 
losophy, the  love  for  truth  and  virtue, 
which  lives  along  its  eloquent  pages. 
6.  To  Muratori"s  collection  of  original 
writers,  the  Scriptores  Rerum  Italica- 
rum,  in  twenty-four  volumes  in  folio,  I 
have  paid  considerable  attention ;  perhaps 
there  is  no  volume  of  it  which  I  have  not 
more  or  less  consulted.  But,  after  the 
Annals  of  the  same  writer,  and  the  work 
of  M.  Sismondi,  I  have  not  thought  my- 
self bound  to  repeat  a  laborious  search 
into  all  the  authorities  upon  which  those 
writers  depend.  The  utility,  for  the 
most  part,  of  perusing  original  and  con- 
temporary authors,  consists  less  in  ascer- 
taining mere  facts  than  in  acquiring  that 
insight  into  the  spirit  and  temper  of  their 
times  which  it  is  utterly  impracticable 
for  any  compiler  to  impart.  It  would  be 
impossible  for  me  to  distinguish  wliat 
information  I  have  derived  from  these 
higher  sources;  in  cases,  therefore,  where 
no  particular  authority  is  named,  I  would 
refer  to  the  writings  oif  Muratori  and  Sis- 
mondi, especially  the  latter,  as  the  sub- 
stratum of  the  following  chapter. 

1  Giannone,  Istoria  Civile  di  Napoli, 
1.  vii. ;  Sismondi,  Hist,  des  Ilepubliques 
Italiennes,  t.  i.  p.  244. 


Italt.  OTHO  the  great.  345 

native  chiefs.  One  of  these,  Berenger,  originally  marquis  of 
Friiili,  or  tlie  March  of  Treviso,  reigned  ibr  thirty-six  years, 
but  witli  i-oiitiiiiially  ilis|iule(l  prctciisioiis  ;  and  after  his  death 
the  ealamitics  of  Italy  were  sometimes  aggravated  by  tyran- 
ny, and  sometimes  by  intestine  wiw.^  The  Hungarians  deso- 
lated Loml)ardy  ;  the  southern  coasts  ^vere  infested  by  the 
Saracens,  now  masters  of  Sicily.  Plunged  in  an  abyss,  from 
which  she  saw  no  other  means  of  extricating  herself,  Italy 
lost  sight  of  her  favorite  independence,  and  called  in  the  as- 
sistance of  Otho  the  First,  king  of  Germany.  Little  oppo- 
sition was  made  to  this  powcrfid  monarch.  Berenger  II.,  the 
reigning  soveivign  of  ludy,  submitted  to  hold  the  kingdom  of 

him  as  a  fief.-      r>iit  some  years  afterwards,  new  „..    ,, 
r  .      1  <  \  1     '     1  11,.,      0'^°  t'le 

disturbances    arisnig,    Ollio     descended    irom    the  Great. 

Ali)s   a  second   time,  deposed    Berenger,  and  re-  ^'^'  ^^^' 
ceived  at  the  hands  of  Pope  John  XII.  the  imperial  dignity, 
which  had  been  suspended  for  nearly  forlv  years. 

Every  ancient  prejudice,  every  i-ecolkction,  whether  of 
Augustus  or  of  Charlemagne,  had  led  the  Italians  to  annex 
the  notion  of  sovereignty  to  the  name  of  Roman  Emi)eror; 
nor  were  Otho,  or  his  two  inunediate  descendants,  by  any 
means  inclined  to  waive  these  sujjposed  prerogatives,  which 
they  were  well  able  to  enforce.  ]\Iost  of  the  Lombard 
princes  acquiesced  without  apparent  repngnance  in  the  new 
German  government,  whii-h  was  comhictcd  by  Otho  the 
Great  with  mucii  prudence  and  vigor,  and  occasionally  \vith 
severity.  The  citizens  of  Loiidtardy  were  still  better  satis- 
fii-d  witli  a  change  that  ensured  a  more  tranquil  and  regular 
administration  than  they  had  experienced  under  the  preced- 
ing kings.  But  in  one,  and  that  the  ciiief  of  Italian  cities, 
very  ditfcn-nt  .sentiments  were  prevalent.  We  find,  indeed, 
a  consi<leral)le  ol).-<ciu-ity  spread  over  the  internal  history  of 

»  Bprcii(,'iT,     ^H■\l•,|r     (rniii.l«nn,     by     a  impprio  |;unrilnno  a  pii  va.ito  scopo  cd  1 

dauKlit<T.  <.f    I/<iuiH  tliu    I><.|ioimir.   nmy  poiitilici   Kouiano  sono   dalla  forza    dcllo 

be  n^ikoiie.i  of  tli<!  Carl')viiii;iiin   fniiilly.  cosccliiaiuatia  tcnereil  fri'iio  inti'llcKualo 

Hi-    W!iit   a    Frank   hi)  law.   nri-onlhii;   to  di-lla  civiti  ile'   popoli  di   liitta  Eiirnpa.'' 

Tmja,   wbo  denied   to  liiin  and   bin  iion.  Tnja    diMtuccH     tbe    Italian    cimiiiiuiics 

Betviiger  II..  tb<«  nnniu  of  llaliaiiH.     It  "  dopo  il  niille"  from  a  (h-riiiati  rather 

wan  Otiiol.  that  put  «n  i-nd  to  thc'Krank  than  a  lloman  origin.     "Li   xono  vira- 

•li.niliiioii.     Storia  ditalln,  V  Xii.  Inonto    i    coniuni    dov'    6    lu    xpada    per 

'Or  ifii  tiitt'i  nil' nppiirlr  deull  OttonI  UlfiMidorKJl ;     nia  n«d  regno  I.ongolmrdiro 

r\   c.-ini.'ia    <lft  rn|Hi    in    ll.illa,    nel    niodo  da  liinga  Htagiom- la  Hpaila  pii'i   nun  pea- 

iiU—"irbe  lult-.era.l  rangi'ilo  alia  n-nnta  deva  dal  tlanco  ilel  Koniano  "  (p.  ;jt;8). 

de'  Krnnrhl.      !<•  rjtU    I i-.-le  pren-  2  .Mum tori,    A.l>.!>.il;   Urnina,    Itivolu- 

don-i  altni  Curia,  Iti  p.                      veworl  zioni  d' Italia,  1.  ix.  c.  tj. 
■' auiuenta,  1  patU  Iri              i  i  >/.io  c  r 


346  INTERNAL  STATE  OF  ROME.    Chap.  III.  Part  I. 

Internal         Rome  during  the  long  period  from  the  recovery 
state  of  of  Italy  by  Belisarius  to  the  end  of  the  eleventh 

°"'''  century.     The   popes   appear   to   have    possessed 

some  measure  of  temporal  power,  even  while  the  city  was 
professedly  governed  by  the  exarchs  of  Ravenna,  in  the 
name  of  the  Eastern  empire.  This  power  became  more  ex- 
tensive after  her  separation  from  Constantinople.  It  was, 
however,  subordinate  to  the  undeniable  sovereignty  of  the 
new  imperial  family,  who  were  supposed  to  enter  upon  all  the 
rights  of  their  predecessors.  There  was  always  an  imperial 
officer,  or  prefect,  in  that  city,  to  render  criminal  justice ;  an 
oath  of  allegiance  to  the  emperor  was  taken  by  the  j^eople ; 
and  upon  any  irregular  election  of  a  pope,  a  circumstance  by 
no  means  unusual,  the  emperors  held  themselves  entitled  to 
interpose.  But  the  spirit  and  even  the  institutions  of  the 
Romans  were  republican.  Amidst  the  darkness  of  the  tenth 
century,  which  no  contemporary  historian  dissipates,  we 
faintly  distinguish  the  awful  names  of  senate,  consuls,  and 
tribunes,  the  domestic  magistracy  of  Rome.  These  shadows 
of  past  glory  strike  us  at  first  with  surprise  ;  yet  there  is  no 
improbability  in  the  supposition  that  a  city  so  renowned  and 
populous,  and  so  happily  sheltered  from  the  usurpation  of  the 
Lombards,  might  have  preserved,  or  might  afterwards  es- 
tablish, a  kind  of  municipal  government,  which  it  would  be 
natural  to  dignify  with  those  august  titles  of  antiquity.^ 
During  that  anarchy  which  ensued  upon  the  fall  of  the  Car- 
lovingian  dynasty,  the  Romans  acquired  an  independence 
which  they  did  not  deserve.  The  city  became  a  prey  to  the 
most  terrible  disorders ;  the  papal  chair  was  sought  for  at 
best  by  bribery  or  controlling  influence,  often  by  violence  and 
assassination ;  it  was  filled  by  such  men  as  naturally  rise  by 
such  means,  whose  sway  was  precarious,  and  generally  ended 
either  in  their  murder  or  degradation.  For  many  years  the 
supreme  pontiffs  were  forced  upon  the  church  by  two  women 
of  high  rank  but  infamous  reputation,  Theodora  and  her 
daughter  Marozia.  The  kings  of  Italy,  whose  election  in  a 
diet  of  Lombard  princes  and  bishops  at  Roncaglia  was  not 
conceived  to  convey  any  pretensions  to  the  sovereignty  of 
Rome,  could  never  obtain  any  decided  influence  in  jxipal 
elections,  which  were  the  object  of  struggling  factions  among 
the  resident  nobility.     In   this  temper  of  the  Romans,  they 

1  Muratori,  a.d.  967,  987,  1015,  1087  ;  Sismondi,  t.  i.  p.  155. 


Italy.  IIEXRY   II.   AND  ARDOIN.  347 

were  ill  disposed  to  resume  liahits  of  obedience  to  a  foreign 
sovereign.  Tlie  next  year  atier  Oilio's  corona- 
tion tiiev  rebelled,  the  i)ope  at  their  head ;  but  ^'^' 
were  of  cour-^e  sulidued  witiiout  diHienlty.  The  .<ame  repub- 
lican spirit  broke  out  whenever  the  emperors  were  alxcnt  in 
Germany,  especially  during  the  minority  of  Otho  III.,  and 
directed  itself  against  the  temjioral  superiority  of  the  pope. 
But  when  that  emperor  attained  manhood  he  besieged  and 
took  the  city,  crushing  all  resistance  by  measures  of  severity  ; 
and  especially  by  the  execution  of  the  consul  Crescentius,  a 
leadi-r  of  the  popular  faction,  to  whose  instigation  tlic  tmiiul- 
tuous  license  of  Rome  was  principally  ascribed.^ 

At  the  death  of  Otho  III.  without  children,  in  1002,  the 
compact  between  Italy  and  the  emjx'rors  of  the  iicnrv  it. 
house  of  Saxony  was  determined.  Her  engage- ''"'^'^'^'''^'"' 
ment  of  fidelitv  was  certainly  not  applicable  to  every  sover- 
eign whom  the  princes  of  Germany  might  raise  to  their 
throne,  Accordinglv  Ardnin  marquis  of  Ivrea  was  elected 
king  of  Italy.  But  a  GcriMan  party  existed  among  the 
Lombard  princes  and  bishops,  to  which  his  insolent  demeanor 
soon  gave  a  pretext  for  inviting  Henry  II.,  the  new  king  of 
Germany.  coUateially  related  to  their  late  soveriMgn.  Ardoin 
wa-:  deserted  by  most  of  the  Italians,  but  retained  his  former 
subjects  in  Piedmont,  and  disputed  the  crown  for  many  years 
with  Henry,  who  pa-^sed  very  little  time  in  Italy.  During 
this  period  (here  wa^  hardly  any  recognized  government ; 
and  the  Lombanl-^  became  more  and  more  accustomed, 
through  neces^ilv,  tf»  protect  themselves,  and  to  provide  for 
their  own  internal  police.  Meanwhile  the  German  nation  had 
l)ecome  odious  to  the  Italians.  The  rude  soldiery,  insolent 
and  addicted  to  intoxication,  were  engaged  in  frequent  dis- 
putes with  the  citizens,  wherein  the  latter,  as  is  usual  in 
similar  ca<es,  were  exjKtsed  lirst  to  the  summary  vengeance 
of  the  tnK)i)s,  and  afterward^  to  penal  chastisem<'nt  for  sedi- 
tion.'- In  one  of  these  tumults,  at  tin-  entry  of  Heni'v  II.  in 
I'tUl,  the  city  of  Pavia  was  burned  to  the  ground,  wliicli  in- 
spired lUi  inhabitants  with  a  constant  animosity  against  that 
emperor.  ITjmn  his  death  in  102  I,  the  Italians  were  dispos- 
ed to  break  once  more  their  connection  with  Germany,  which 

«  Hininonili.  t.  I.  p.  \i'A.  miilcoii  n  pntrint  of  hintory.  without  vourhinj?  for  tlio  ac- 

h«"r«>  of  Crvno-ntluK.  But  we  know  no  oiinicy  of  its  n-proMciitJitiniiH. 
littln  of  tli«  uimi  or  till!  tiiiii-H,  tliiit  it  ^  .Munituri,  a.u.  1u2T,  1u37. 
•wiiiii  Iwll^r  to  follow  tliv  couiuioii  tvuor 


348  CONE  AD  II.  Chap.  III.  Part  I. 

had  elected  as  sovereign  Conrad  duke  of  Franconia.  They 
offered  their  crown  to  Robert  king  of  France,  and  to  Wilhani 
duke  of  Guienne ;  but  neither  of  them  was  imprudent  enough 
to  involve  himself  in  the  difficult  and  faithless  politics  of 
Italy.  It  may  surprise  us  that  no  candidate  appeared  from 
among  her  native  princes.  But  it  had  been  the  dexterous 
policy  of  the  Othos  to  weaken  the  great  Italian  fiefs,  which 
were  still  rather  considered  as  hereditary  governments  than 
as  absolute  patrimonies,  by  separating  districts  from  their 
jui'isdiction,  under  inferior  marquises  and  rural  counts.-^  The 
bishops  were  incapable  of  becoming  competitors,  and  gen- 
erally attached  to  the  German  party.  The  cities  already 
possessed  material  influence,  but  were  disunited  by  mutual 
Election  of  jealousics.  Sincc  ancient  prejudices,  therefore, 
Counui  II.  precluded  a  federate  league  of  independent  princi- 
^'^'  '  '  palities  and  republics,  for  which  perhaps  the  actual 
condition  of  Italy  unfitted  her,  Eribert  archbishop  of  Milan, 
accompanied  by  some  other  chief  men  of  Lombardy,  repaired 
to  Constance,  and  tendered  the  crown  to  Conrad,  which  he  was 
already  disposed  to  claim  as  a  sort  of  dependency  upon  Ger- 
many. It  does  not  appear  that  either  Conrad  or  his  succes- 
sors were  ever  regularly  elected  to  reign  over  Italy ;  ^  but 
whether  this  ceremony  took  place  or  not,  we  may  certainly 
date  from  that  time  the  subjection  of  Italy  to  the  Germanic 
body.  It  became  an  unquestionable  maxim,  that  the  votes 
of  a  few  German  princes  conferred  a  right  to  the  sovereignty 
of  a  country  which  had  never  been  conquered,  and  which  had 
never  formally  recognized  this  superiority.^  But  it  was  an 
equally  fundamental  rule,  that  the  elected  king  of  Germany 
could  not  assume  the  title  of  Roman  Emperor  until  his  cor- 
onation by  the  pope.  The  middle  appellation  of  King  of  the 
Romans  was  invented  as  a  sort  of  approximation  to  the  im- 

1  Denina,  1.  ix.  c.  11;  Muratori,  Antiq.  Romani  gloria  regni 
Ital.  Dissert.  8;  Annali  tl'Italia,  a.d.  989.     Nos  penes  est ;  quemcuuque  sibi  Germa- 

2  Muratori,  a.d.  1026.     It  is  said  after-        uia  rcgem 

wards,  p.  367,  that  he  was  a  Romauis  ad  Pnieficit,   hunc    dives    submisso   vertice 

Imperatorem    electus.      The   people    of  Roma                                            [Rhenus. 

Rome  therefore  preserved  their  nominal  Accipit,   et   verso   Tiberim  regit   ordine 

right  of  concurring  in  the  election  of  an  Gunther.  Ligurinus  ap.  Struvium 

emperor.      Muratori,  in  another   place,  Corpus  Hist.  German,  p.  266. 

A.D.  1040,  supposes  that  Henry  III.  was  Yet  it  appears  from  Otho   of  Frisingen, 

chosen  king  of  Italy,  though   lie  allows  an  unquestionable  authority,  that  some 

that  no   proof  of   it   exists  ;   and   there  Italian  nobles  concurred,  or  at  least  were 

seems  no  reason  for  the  supposition.  present  and  assisting,  in  the  election  of 

3  Gunther,   the  poet  of  Frederic   Bar-  Frederic  himself :  1.  ii.  c.  J. 
barossa,  expre.sses  this  not  inelegantly : 


Italy.  THE  NORMANS  AT  AVERSA.  349 

perial  dignity.  But  it  wa.^  not  till  the  reign  of  ^Maximilian 
that  tlie  actual  coronation  at  Rome  was  dispensed  with,  and 
the  title  of  emperor  taken  inunediattdy  after  the  election. 

The  period  between  Conrad  of  Franconia  and  Frederic 
Bariiarossa,  or  from  about  the  middle  of  the  eleventh  to  that 
of  the  twelfth  century,  is  marked  by  three  great  events  in 
Italian  historv  ;  the  struggle  between  the  empire  and  the 
j)a|)acv  tor  ecclt-siastical  investitures,  the  establishment  of  the 
Xorman  kingdom  in  Na|)les,  and  the  formation  of  distinct  and 
nearly  indei)endenl  republics  among  the  cities  of  Lombardy. 
The  first  of  these  will  tind  a  more  appropriate  place  in  a 
subsequent  chapter,  where  I  shall  trace  the  progress  of  eccle- 
siastical power.  But  it  produced  a  long  and  almost  incessant 
state  of  disturbance  in  Italy  ;  and  should  be  mentioned  at 
present  as  one  of  the  main  causes  which  excited  in  that 
country  a  systematic  opposition  to  the  imperial  authority. 

The  southern  provinces  of  Italy,  in  the  beginning  of  the 
eleventh  century,  were  chiefly  subject  to  the  Greek  empire, 
which  had  latterly  recovered  part  of  its  losses,  and  exhibited 
some  ambition  and  enterprise,  thouLrh  without  an}' 

•    .    •      •  •  rr<i  '        ,    1  ,.  Greek 

nitrm-ic  vigor.       Ihcy  were  goverued  by  a  lieu-  provinces 
tenant,  styled   Catapan,^  who   resided  at    Bari    in  "'"  ^""tiiem 
Apulia.    On  the  Mediterranean  coast  three  duchies, 
or  rather  rejaiijlics  of   Naples,  Gaeta,  and  Amalfi.    had  for 
several  ages  preserved  their  connection  with  the  Greek  em- 
pire, and  acknowletlged  its  nominal  sovereignty.     The  Lom- 
banl    principalities  of    Benevento,  Salerno,  and    Capua  had 
nnich   declined   from   their  ancient   splendor.      The    Greeks 
Were,  however,  not   likely  to  attempt  any  further  conquests  : 
the  court  of  Constantinople  had  relapsed  into  its  usual  indo- 
lence;  nor  had  they  nnieh  riglit  to  boast  of  successes  rather 
due  to  tin-  Saracen  auxiliaries  whom  they  hired  from  Sicily. 
No  momentous  revolution  apparently  threatened  the  south  of 
Italy,  and  lea--t  of  all  (•oid<l  it  be  anticipated  from  what  quar- 
ter the  storm  was  altout  to  gather. 

The  fbllowei-s  of  litAlo,  who  rested  from  plunder  and  piracy 
in  the  quiet  possession  of  Normandy,  became  de- 
vout profe>s<)rs  of  the  Christian  faith,  and  particu-  ,',f  eiie"^"" 
larlv  addicted   to  the  cu>toui  (jf  piLriiiiia"-e,  which  >"""»'"•  at 
gralined   tlieir  curiosity  an<l  spirit  of   adventure. 

I  CsU|i«o«M,   from  Kara  nuv,  one  employed  In  gencnil  iiilmlni»tnitlon  of  of- 
blm. 


350  ROBERT  GUISCARD.         Chap.  III.  Part  I. 

In  small  bodies,  well  ai'med  on  account  of  the  lawless  charac- 
ter of  the  countries  through  which  they  passed,  the  Norman 
pilgrims  visited  the  shrines  of  Italy  and  even  the  Holy  Land. 
Some  of  these,  very  early  in  the  eleventh  century,  were  en- 
gaged by  a  Lombard  prince  of  Salerno  against  the  Saracens, 
who  had  invaded  his  territory ;  and  through  that  superiority 
of  valor,  and  perhaps  of  corporal  strength,  which  this  singular 
people  seem  to  have  possessed  above  all  other  Europeans, 
they  made  surprising  havoc  among  the  enemy.-"  This  ex- 
ploit led  to  fresh  engagements,  and  these  engagements  drew 
new  adventurers  from  Normandy ;  they  founded  the  little 
city  of  Aversa,  near  Capua,  and  were  employed  by  the 
Greeks  against  the  Saracens  of  Sicily.  But,  though  perform- 
ing splendid  services  in  this  war,  they  were  ill  repaid  by 
their  ungrateful  employex's ;  and  being  by  no  means  of  a  tem- 
per to  bear  with  injury,  they  revenged  themselves  by  a  sud- 
A  D  1042  ^^^^  invasion  of  Apulia.  This  province  was  speedi- 
Conquests  ly  subducd,  and  divided  among  twelve  Norman 
Guiscard.  counts ;  but  soon  afterwards  Robert  Guiscard,  one 
of  twelve  brothers,  many  of  whom  were  renowned 
in  these  Italian  wars,  acquired  the  sovereignty ; 
and,  adding  Calabria  to  his  conquests,  put  an  end  to  the  long 
dominion  of  the  Eastern  emperors  in  Italy .^  He  reduced 
the  principalities  of  Salenio  and  Benevento,  in  the  latter  in- 
stance sharing  the  spoil  with  the  pope,  who  took  the  city  to 
himself,  while  Robert  retained  the  territory.  His  conquests 
in  Greece,  which  he  invaded  with  the  magnificent  design  of 
jQ„  overthrowing  the  Eastern  empire,  were  at  least 
equally  splendid,  though  less  durable.  Roger,  his 
younger  brother,  undertook  meanwhile  the  romantic  enter- 
prise, as  it  appeared,  of  conquering  the  island  of  Sicily  with 
a  small  body  of  Norman  volunteers.  But  the  Saracens  were 
broken  into  petty  states,  and  discouraged  by  the  bad  success 
of  their  brethren  in  Spain  and  Sardinia.  After  many  years 
of  war  Roger  became  sole  master  of  Sicily,  and  took  the 
title  of  Count.  The  son  of  this  prince,  upon  the  extinction 
of  Robert  Guiscard's  posterity,  united  the  two  Norman  sover- 

1  Giannone,  t.  ii.  p.  7  [edit.  1753].     I  2  The  final  blow  was  giyen  to  the  Greek 

should   observe  that   St.  Marc,   a   more  domination  over  Italy  by  the  capture  of 

critical  writer  in  examination   of  facts  Bari  in  1071,  after  a  siege  of  four  years, 

than  Giannone,  treats  this  first  adventure  It  had  for  some  time  been  confined  to 

of  the   Normans  as   unautheuticated. —  this  single  city.     Muratori,  St.  Marc. 
Abrege  Chronologique,  p.  990. 


Italy.  PROGRESS  OF  THE  LOMBARD  CITIES.  Sol 

fidelities,  ami,  siihiiiuatini!;    the    five   rti)ul)lies    of 

•  AD    11227 

Naples  ami  Amalfi,  ami  the  principality  of  Capua, 
establishetl  a  boundary  which  has  hariUy  been  changed  since 
his  tiuie.^ 

The  tii-st  successes  of  these  Norman  leaders  were  viewed 
unfavorably  liy  the  popes.  Leo  IX.  marched  in  y,  ^  -^^^ 
person  ajrainst  Kobert  Giiiscard  wiih  an  army  of  vestjtures 
German  mercenaries,  but  was  beaten  and  made  °  " "'''  '^^^ 
prisoner  in  this  unwise  enterprise,  the  scandal  of  which  noth- 
ing but  good  tbrtune  could  have  lightened.  He  fell,  however, 
into  the  hands  of  a  devout  jieople,  who  implored  his  absolu- 
tion for  the  crime  of  deti  luliiig  themselves ;  and,  whether 
through  gratitude,  or  as  the  price  of  his  liberation,  invested 
them  wiih  their  recent  comiuests  in  Apulia,  as  tiefs  of  the 
Holy  See.  This  investiture  was  repeated  and  enlarged  as 
the  popes,  especially  in  their  contention  with  Henry  IV.  and 
Henry  V.,  found  the  advantage  of  using  the  Normans  as 
faithful  auxiliaries.  Finally,  Innocent  II.,  in  1139,  conferred 
upon  Roger  the  title  of  King  of  Sicily.  It  is  ditlicult  to 
understand  by  what  pretence  these  countries  could  be  claimed 
by  the  see  of  Koine  in  sovereignty,  unless  by  virtue  of  the  pre- 
tended donation  ui'  Constanline,  or  that  of  Louis  the  Debonair, 
which  is  hardly  less  suspicious ;  ^  and  least  of  all  how  Inno- 
cent II.  CDuld  surrender  the  liberties  of  the  city  of  Naples, 
whether  that  was  considered  as  an  independent  republic,  or 
as  a  portion  of  the  Grc^ek  empire.  But  the  Normans,  who 
hjwl  no  title  but  their  swords,  were  natumlly  ghid  to  give  an 
appearance  of  legitimacy  to  their  conquest;  and  the  kingdom 
of  Na|iles,  even  in  the  hands  of  the  most  powerful  iirinces  in 
Europe,  never  ceased  to  pay  a  feudal  acknowledgment  to  the 
chair  <jf  Si.  Peter. 

The  revolutions  which  time  lirought  forth  on  the  opposite 
side  of  Itjdy  were  still  more  interestinsr.     Under  „  , 

•'  .  n         ^  Progress  or 

the  Lijiiibard  and   r  rench  pruices  every  city  with  thu  [.om- 
its   adja<-<-nt    ili-iriet   was   subject   to   the    govern- '''"'' '"""'*" 
meiit    and  jurixliction  of  a   count,  who  was   himself  subor- 

'  M.  Slxmon^ll  hnit  rxrfHwl  hlniKelf  In  the  int<Tpol:itcil.  if  not  Hpiirinus,  (,'nmts 
dixtrril>iii;{  tin-  roii.|ii.-»t  of  Ainnlfl  mid  of  I/miM  tin,'  Di-hoiiiiir.  Otlio  I.,  iiml 
Nm|iIiv<  l.y  IUpkit  (iuiM-iinl  (t.  I.  c.  4);  Henry  II.  to  the  ceo  of  Koiue,  «cro  pro- 
warming  hill  inini^inatloN  with  rinionii  of  iniil(;iitei|  iilioiif  the  IImh-  of  tin-  tlrst  con- 
lIUTty  an<l  rlrtiie  in  Uir>iM)  olj«curo  re-  ceHHionK  to  the  .\<jnimMs,  in  order  tn  ({'v» 
(luhlirii,  whicli  uo  real  history  iiurvlvca  the  pope«  ii  colonilile  pretext  to  <li«pi»M> 
t<j'Jiii|M-l.  of  the  Koutlieru  provinces  of  Ituly.     A.D. 

•  MuraUirl   pretumri  lo  luppom  that  1U01>. 


352  PROGRESS  OF  THE    Chap.  III.  Part  I. 

dinate  to  the  duke  or  marquis  of  the  province.  From  these 
counties  it  was  the  practice  of  the  first  German  emperors 
to  dismember  particular  towns  or  tracts  of  country,  grant- 
ing them  upon  a  feudal  tenure  to  rural  lords,  by  many  of 
whom  also  the  same  title  was  assumed.  Thus  by  degrees 
the  authority  of  the  original  officers  was  confined  almost  to 
the  Avails  of  their  own  cities ;  and  in  many  cases  the  bishops 
obtained  a  grant  of  the  temporal  government,  and  exercised 
the  functions  Avhich  had  belonged  to  the  count.^ 

It  is  impossible  to  ascertain  the  time  at  which  the  cities  of 
Lombardy  began  to  assume  a  republican  form  of  government, 
or  to  trace  with  precision  the  gradations  of  their  progress. 
The  last  historian  of  Italy  asserts  that  Otho  the  First  erected 
them  into  municipal  communities,  and  permitted  the  election 
of  their  magistrates ;  but  of  this  he  produces  no  evidence ; 
and  Muratori,  from  whose  authority  it  is  rash  to  depart  with- 
out strong  reasons,  is  not  only  silent  about  any  charters,  but 
discovers  no  express  unequivocal  testimonies  of  a  popular 
government  for  the  whole  eleventh  century.^  The  first  ap- 
pearance of  the  citizens  acting  for  themselves  is  in  a  tumult 
at  Milan  in  991,  Avhen  the  archbishop  was  expelled  from  the 
city.^  But  this  was  a  transitory  ebullition,  and  we  must  de- 
scend lower  for  more  specific  proofs.  It  is  possible  that  the 
disputed  succession  of  Ardoin  and  Henry,  at  the  beginning 
of  the  eleventh  age,  and  the  kind  of  interregnum  which  then 
took  place,  gave  the  inhabitants  an  opportunity  of  choosing 
magistrates  and  of  sharing  in  public  deliberations.  A  similar 
relaxation  indeed  of  government  in  France  had  exposed  the 
people  to  greater  servitude,  and  established  a  feudal  aristoc- 
racy. But  the  feudal  tenures  seem  not  to  have  produced  in 
Italy  that  systematic  and  regular  subordination  which  existed 
in  France  during  the  same  period ;  nor  were  the  mutual 
duties  of  the  relation  between  loi'd  and  vassal  so  well  under- 
stood or  observed.  Hence  we  find  not  only  disputes,  but 
actual  civil  war,  between  the  lesser  gentry  or  vavassors,  and 
the  higher  nobility,  their  immediate  superiors.  These  differ- 
ences were  adjusted  by  Conrad  the  Sahc,  who  published  a 
remarkable  edict  in  1037,  by  which  the  feudal  law  of  Italy 
was  reduced  to  more  certainty.'*     Fi'om  this  disunion  among 

1  Muratori,  Antiquit.  Italiae,  Dissert.  8 ;        2  gjsniondi,  t.  i.  p.  97,  384;  Muratori, 
Anuali  d"Italia,  A.D.  989  J  Antichita  Es-    Dissert.  49. 
teusi,  p.  26.  "*  Muratori,  Annali  d'ltalia. 

*  Muratori,  Annali  d'ltalia.     St  Marc. 


Italt. 


LOMBARD  CITIES. 


333 


the  members  ot  the  feudal  oonf('(leraey,  it  was  more  easy  for 
the  citizens  to  reiuler  themselves  seeiire  against  its  dominion. 
Tlie  cities  too  of  Lombardy  were  far  more  populous  and 
better  defended  than  those  of  Franee ;  they  had  learned  to 
stand  sieges  in  the  Hungarian  invasions  of  the  tenth  century, 
and  had  acquired  the  right  of  protecting  themselves  by  strong 
fortilications.  Those  which  had  been  placed  under  tlie  tem- 
jx)ral  government  of  tiieir  bishops  had  peculiar  advantages  in 
struggHng  tor  emanci|>ation.^  This  circumstance  in  the  state 
of  Lombardy  I  consider  as  highly  important  towards  explain- 
ing the  subsetiuent  revolution.  Xotwithsfanding  several  ex- 
ce])tiuns.  a  churdnnan  was  less  hki-ly  to  be  bold  and  active 
in  command  than  a  soldier;  ami  the  sort  of  election  which 
was  always  necessary,  and  sometimes  more  than  nominal,  on 
a  vacancy  of  the  see,  kept  up  among  the  citizens  a  notion 
that  the  autiiority  of  their  bishop  and  chief  magistrate  ema- 
nated in  some  degree  from  themselves.  In  many  instances, 
especially  in  the  ciiurch  of  ]\Iilaii,  the  earliest  perhaps,  and 
certaiidy  the  most  famous  of  Lombard  republics,  there  occurred 
a  disputed  election ;  two,  or  even  three,  competitors  claimed 
the  archie]iiscopal  functions,  and  were  compidled,  in  the  ab- 
sence of  tlie  eini)erors,  to  obtain  the  exercise  of  them  by  means 
of  their  own  faction  among  tlie  citizens.^ 


•  The  bi»hopg  teem  to  have  become 
coanU.  or  temporal  Kovernor.'',  of  their 
teen,  al>out  the  eml  of  the  tenth,  or  he 
fore  thf  uii'MIe  of  the  eleveuth  century. 
.Murat<iri.  DLss.  8;  D<Miiiui.  I.  ix.  r.  11; 
St.  Mar.-.  A. I..  1(41,  HM",  1070.  In  .\r- 
nulfs  lli.»t'iry  of  .Mihm,  written  before 
the  close  of  the  latter  age.  we  luive  a  con- 
tenipfiniry  evi^lence.  Ami  from  the  peru- 
lul  of  that  work  I  HhoulJ  infer  tliat  the 
archbisliop  w:l<,  in  tlie  nii<l<lle  of  tlie 
elerenth  century,  the  chief  ma;ot^tnite  of 
the  city.  Hut.  at  the  Kaniu  time,  it  ap- 
pennt  hi;;hly  pnihalile  tliat  an  a-xwnibly 
of  the  ritizi-u".  or  at  lea.«t  a  piirt  of  the 
citiu-n*.  pari'Hik  in  the  ailniiui.ttnition 
o(  puhlir  aff.iiri.  Munitori,  .Scriptores 
Keriiui  Italirarum,  t.  ir.  p.  It),  '£1,  23, 
an>l  parlieul.-irly  the  but.  hi  moitt  citleD 
U>  llic  eaitwrml  of  IheTexino,  the  biiiliO|>fi 
luit  their  teiii|H>nil  authority  in  tiio 
twc""  • —     •'      i-h   the  archblHhnp 


ol 

tin: 
Hut  in 
Id   tbi- 

an<l  even    1  tinn.  Mere 
their    re«|M-<-tivo    pn-lat4.i)    till   the   thlr- 
tvenlli  century.     Kor  thin  reAjKin,  aiiiong 
V<»I,.   I.  2a 


i.reprpitivrt  while 
I  :■-  a  ri-puhlic. 
Mnue<i  lonifer 
;  >.r.  Vercelli, 
iiluioot  inbject  to 


Others,  tho  Picdmontese  cities  are  hardly 
to  l)e  reckoneil  among  the  republics  of 
lyombaniy.  —  Denina,  Intoria  dell'  Italia 
Occidcntjile,  t.  i.  p.  191. 

-  Munitiiri,  a.d.  1345.  Sometimes  the 
inhnbitiint.4  of  a  city  refused  to  acknowl- 
eil;,'!-  a  liislmp  named  by  the  emperor,  aa 
hap|H-ned  at  I'avia  and  A.sti  about  1057. 
.\rnulf,  p.  22.  This  waa,  in  other  words, 
hetling  up  them.^elves  as  republics.  But 
the  most  reni.irkable  instjince  of  this 
kind  occurred  iu  1070,  when  the  Milanese 
absolutely  n-jecti'd  Oodfrey,  appointed 
by  Henry  IV.,  and,  after  a  resistjiiice  of 
lieveral  years,  obliged  the  emperor  to  fix 
upon  another  person.  The  city  had  been 
previously  involved  in  Iouk  and  violent 
tumults,  which,  thoui^;!)  rattier  belonging 
to  ecclesiiujtical  than  civil  history,  as  they 
arose  out  of  the  endeavors  made  to  re- 
form the  conduct  and  enforce  the  celibacy 
of  the  clergy,  had  aconsiclenible  t»'iidency 
t4i  diminish  the  archbishop's  antlinrity, 
and  to  give  a  n-public.iii  ch.irai-ler  tu  tho 
inliabit'iiits.  These  proceisllngs  are  told 
at  great  length  liy  St.  .Man-,  t.  ill.  A.I). 
105<»-1077.  Arnuff  and  l,;iii>lnlf  are  tho 
original  sources. 


354     PEOGEESS  OF  THE  LOMBAED  CITIES.    Chap.  III.  Part  I. 

These  were  the  general  causes  which,  operating  at  various 
times  during  the  eleventh  century,  seem  gradually  to  have 
produced  a  republican  form  of  government  in  the  Italian  cit- 
ies. But  this  part  of  history  is  very  obscure.  The  archives 
of  all  cities  before  the  reign  of  Frederic  Babarossa  have  per- 
ished. For  many  years  there  is  a  great  deficiency  of  con- 
temporary Lombard  historians ;  and  those  of  a  later  age,  who 
endeavored  to  search  into  the  antiquities  of  their  country, 
have  found  only  some  barren  and  insulated  events  to  record. 
We  perceive,  however,  throughout  the  eleventh  century,  tliat 
the  cities  were  continually  in  warfare  with  each  other.  This, 
indeed,  was  according  to  the  manners  of  that  age,  and  no 
inference  can  absolutely  be  drawn  from  it  as  to  their  internal 
freedom.  But  it  is  observable  that  their  chronicles  speak,  in 
recording  these  transactions,  of  the  people,  and  not  of  their 
leaders,  which  is  the  true  i-epublican  tone  of  history.  Thus, 
in  the  Annals  of  Pisa,  we  read,  under  the  years  1002  and  1004, 
of  victories  gained  by  the  Pisans  over  the  people  of  Lucca ; 
in  1006,  that  the  Pisans  and  Genoese  conquered  Sardinia.-^ 
These  annals,  indeed,  are  not  by  a  contemporary  writer,  nor 
perhaps  of  much  authority.  But  we  have  an  original  account 
of  a  war  that  broke  out  in  1057,  between  Pavia  and  Mihm, 
in  which  the  citizens  are  said  to  have  raised  armies,  made  al- 
liances, hired  foreign  troops,  and  in  every  respect  acted  like 
mdependent  states.^  There  was,  in  fact,  no  power  left  in  the 
empire  to  control  them.  The  two  Henrys  IV.  and  V.  were 
so  much  embarrassed  during  the  quarrel  concerning  investi- 
tures, and  the  continual  troubles  of  Germany,  that  they  were 
less  likely  to  interfere  with  the  rising  freedom  of  the  Italian 
cities,  than  to  purchase  their  assistance  by  large  concessions. 
Henry  IV.  granted  a  charter  to  Pisa  in  1081,  full  of  the  most 
important  privileges,  promising  even  not  to  name  any  mar- 
quis of  Tuscany  without  the  people's  consent ;  ^  and  it  is  possi- 
ble that,  although  the  instruments  have  perished,  other  places 
might  obtain  similar  advantages.  However  this  may  be,  it  is 
certain  that  before  the  death  of  Henry  V.,  in  1125,  almost  all 

iMurat.  Diss.  45.     Arnulfus,  the  his-  That   of  Landulphus  corroborates   this 

toriaii  of  Milan,  makes  no  mention  of  supposition,  whicii  indeed  is  capable  of 

any  temporal  counts,  which  seems  to  be  proof  as  to  Milan  and  several  other  cities 

a  proof   that   there   were    none   in   any  in  which  the  temporal  government  had 

authority.    He  speaks  always  of  Mediola-  been  Icfjally  vested  in  the  bishops, 

nenses,  Papicnses,  Kavenates,  &c.     This  2  Mur  it.  Diss.  45;  Arnulf.  Ilist.  Medio- 

histoVy  was  written  about  1085,  but  re-  Ian.  p.  22. 

lates  to  the  earlier  part  of  that  century.  saxurat.  Dissert.  45. 


It.vlt.  LOMBARD  ACQUISITIONS.  355 

the  citic?  of  Lomb'inly,  and  nwny  among  those  of  Tuscany, 
were  aooustonieil  to  ek'ct  their  own  magistrates,  and  to  act  as 
intk'peiident  communities  in  waging  war  and  iu  domestic  gov- 
ernment.* 

Tlie  territory  subjected  originally  to  the  count  or  bishop 
of  tliese  cities,  had  been  reduced,  a5  I  mentioned  ^,^^1^.  j^^. 
above,  by  numerou-;  concessions  to  the  rural  nobility,  qvusitions  of 
But  the  new  republics,  deeming  tliemselves  entitled  *^"'  °''^' 
to  all  which  their  former  governors  had  once  possessed,  began 
to  attack  their  nearest  neighbors,  and  to  recover  the  sov- 
ereignty of  all  their  ancient  territory.  They  besieged  the 
castles  of  the  rural  counts,  and  successively  reduced  thcni  into 
eubjection.  Tiiey  suppressed  some  minor  communities,  which 
had  been  formed  in  imitatidn  of  themselves  by  little  towns 
belonging  to  their  district.  Sometimes  they  purchased  feudal 
superioi'ities  or  territorial  jurisdictions,  and,  according  to  a 
policy  not  unusual  with  the  stronger  party,  converted  the 
rights  of  property  into  those  of  government.'-^  Hence,  at  the 
midtlle  of  the  twelfth  century,  we  are  assured  by  a  contempo- 
rary writer  that  hardly  any  nobleman  could  be  found,  excejft 
tile  manjuis  of  ]\Iontferrat,  wlio  had  not  submitted  to  some 
city.'  We  may  exce[it,  also,  I  should  presume,  the  families 
of  Este  and  Malaspina,  as  well  as  that  of  Savoy.  Muratori 
jiroduces  many  charters  of  mutual  comjiact  between  the 
nol)li.'S  and  the  neighboring  cities  ;  whereof  one  invariable  ar- 
ticle is,  that  tl»e  former  should  reside  within  the  walls  a  cer- 
tain number  of  months  in  the  year.*  Tlie  rural  nol»ility,  thus 
deprive<l  of  the  independence  which  had  endeared  their  cas- 
tle-, iinl»il)e(l  a  new  ambition  of  ilirecting  tlie  nuniicipal  gov- 
ernment of  the  cities,  which  consequently,  during  this  period 
of  tlie  republics,  fell  chiefly  into  tiie  hands  of  the  superior 
families.  It  was  the  sag;u-ious  policy  of  the  Lombards  to 
invite  settlers  by  throwing  open  to  them  the  privileges  of  citi- 
zenship, and  sometimes  they  even  bestowed  them  by  compul- 
sion. Sometimes  a  city,  imitating  the  wisdom  of  ancient 
lii)iiu\    granted    these    privileges    to    all  tiie    inhabitants  of 

'  Murnt.  Anrinll  d'ltnl.  A.D.  1107.  ziono,  c  1'  nitro  J"  un' iilfrn.     Doniiin,  1. 

»  n  'l'>f!iliii'.  iiHW-  .|.-!I<-  rltU  o  dc'  vll-  xli.  p.  3.     This  prixlurfd  a  v:ist  iiifricm-y 

1 '  1  due  o  piii  |>n-  of  titlcH,  wliich    wiut  of  course  udviiutji- 

'I  'TO  II  climcuiio  p-ouH  to  tlioso  who  wiiiitod  11  pix'lt'xt  for 

''  "  -I    iivicli-niMiro  1  pro-  riihbniK  thi-ir  iicii^hhors. 

1  ••.  iivri-ni  rhi-  ruiio  hIu-         '■>  (»th<)  Kri«inp'iis.  1.  ii.  c.  13. 

li  ■     n    ■   ■  '-   •  -""»  i<|MiU'  dtdU  t^urliuil-        *  .Munit.  Di/tn.  4'J. 


356 


THEIR  MUTUAL  ANIMOSITIES.    Chap.  III.  Pakt  I. 


another.^  Thus,  the  principal  cities,  and  especially  Milan, 
reached,  before  the  middle  of  the  twelfth  century,  a  degree  of 
population  very  far  beyond  that  of  the  capitals  of  the  great 
kingdoms.  Within  their  strong  walls  and  deep  trenches,  and 
in  the  midst  of  their  well-peopled  streets,  the  industrious 
dwelt  secure  from  the  license  of  armed  pillagers  and  the  op- 
pression of  feudal  tyrants.  Artisans,  wdiom  the  military 
landholders  contemned,  acquired  and  deserved  the  right  of 
bearing  arms  for  their  own  and  the  public  defence.^  Their 
occupations  became  liberal,  because  they  were  the  foundation 
of  their  political  franchises ;  the  citizens  were  classed  in  com- 
panies according  to  their  respective  crafts,  each  of  Avhich  had 
its  tribune  or  standardbearer  (gonfalonier),  at  wdiose  com- 
mand, when  any  tumult  arose  or  enemy  threatened,  they 
rushed   in  arms  to  muster  in  the  market-place. 

But,  unhappily,  we  cannot  extend  the  sympatliy  which  in- 
Their  stitutions  SO  fuU  of  liberty  create  to  the  national 

mutual  conduct  of  these  httle  republics.      Their  love  of 

animosities.  f^.ggjQj-Q  ^r^g  alloyed  by  that  restless  spirit,  from 
which  a  democracy  is  seldom  exempt,  of  tyrannizing  over 
weaker  neighbors.  They  played  over  again  the  tragedy  of 
ancient  Greece,  with  all  its  cii'cumstances  of  inveterate  hatred, 
unjust  ambition,  and  atrocious  retaliation,  though  with  less 
consummate  actors  upon  the  scene.  Among  all  the  Lombard 
cities,  Milan  was  the  most  conspicuous,  as  Avell  for  power  and 
population  as  for  the  abuse  of  those  resources  by  arbitrary 
and  ambitious  conduct.  Thus,  in  1111,  they  razed  the  town 
of  Lodi  to  the  ground,  distributing  the  inhabitants  among  six 
villages,  and  subjecting  them  to  an  unrelenting  despotism.^ 
Thus,  in  1118,  they  commenced  a  war  of  ten  years'  duration 
with  the  little  city  of  Como ;  but  the  surprising  perseverance 
of  its  inhabitants  procured  for  them  better  terms  of  capitula- 


1  Murat.  Diss.  49. 

2  Otlio  Krisingensis  ap.  Murat.  Scr.  Rer. 
Ital.  t.  vi.  p.  708.  Ut  etiam  ad  compri- 
meudos  vicinos  materia  non  careant,  iu- 
ferioris  onlinis  juvenes,  vel  quoslibet 
contemptibilium  etiam  menhanicarum 
artiuni  opifices,  quos  caeterie  gentes  ab 
honestioribus  et  liberioribus  studiis  tan- 
quam  jiestem  propelluiit,  ad  inilitiaj  cin- 
gulum,  vel  digiiitatum  gradu.*  assumere 
non  dedignantur.  Ex  quo  factum  est, 
ut  cfeteris  orbis  civitatibus,  divitiia  et 
potentid  pra^emineaiit. 

3  The    animosity  between    Milan  and 


Lodi  was  of  very  old  standing.  It  origi- 
nated, according  to  Arnulf,  in  the  resist- 
ance made  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  latter 
city  to  an  attempt  made  by  archbishop 
Eribert  to  force  a  bishop  of  his  own 
nomination  upon  them.  The  bloodshed, 
plunder,  and  conflagrations  which  had 
ensued,  would,  he  says,  fill  a  volume,  if 
they  were  related  at  length.  Scrip  tores 
Uei'um  Italic,  t.  iv.  p.  16.  And  this  is 
the  testimony  of  a  writer  who  did  not 
live  beyond  1085.  Seventy  years  more 
either  of  hostility  or  servitude  elapsed 
before  Lodi  was  permitted  to  respire. 


Italy.  SOTErwEIGNTY   OF  THE  EMPERORS.  3o7 

tion.  thoujrh  they  lost  tla-ir  oriiriiml  indopiinlcnce.  The  Crc- 
monese  treated  so  harshly  the  town  of  Crema  that  it  revolteil 
from  them,  and  put  itself  untler  the  proteetion  of  ^Nlilan. 
Cities  of  more  equal  forees  carried  on  intenninalile  hostilities 
l»y  \va»tinir  eaeh  other's  territory,  destroying  the  harvests,  and 
linrninj  the  viliap:es. 

The  sovereiirnty  of  the  em|>erors,  meanwhile,  thongh  not 
verv    etfeetive,    was    in    theory    always    admitted.  „  » 

Their  name  was  used  in  ]»nl>lic  acts,  and  appeared  of  tiie 
upon  tile  coin.  "When  they  came  into  Italy  they  ^■"P'''''"- 
had  certain  customary  sn|)i)lies  of  provisions,  called  fodrum 
rejrale,  at  tlie  expense  of  the  city  where  they  resided  ;  dnring 
their  presence  all  inferior  magistracies  were  suspended,  and 
the  right  of  jurisdiction  devoht-d  upon  them  alone.  But  such 
was  tiie  jealoM<y  of  tiie  Lombards,  tiiat  they  built  the  royal 
palaces  outside  their  gates ;  a  precaution  to  which  the  empe- 
rors were  compelled  to  sulimit.  This  was  at  a  very  early 
time  a  sul)ject  of  contention  Ijctween  the  iidialtitants  of  Pavia 
and  Conrad  II..  who-e  palace,  sealed  in  the  heart  of  the  city, 
they  had  demolishe<l  in  a  sedition,  and  were  unwillui";  to  re- 
huild  in  that  <ituation.^ 

Such  wa-;  tiie  coinlition  of  Italy  when  Frederic  Barbarossa, 
diike  of  Sualiia,  and  nephew  of  the  last  emperor,  Frederic 
Conrad  III.,  ascended  tiic  throne  of  Germany,  "•"•i.aro.sa. 
IIi<  accession  forms  tiie  commencement  of  a  new  period,  the 
duration  of  which  is  about  one  hundred  years,  and  Avhich  is 
terminated  In'  the  death  of  Conrad  IV.,  the  last  emperor  of 
the  house  of  Siiabia.  It  is  characterized,  like  the  former,  by 
three  di>tingiii«liing  features  in  Italian  history;  the  victorious 
struggle  of  the  Lombanl  and  other  cities  for  independence,  the 
final  establi^iiment  of  a  temporal  sovereignty  over  the  middle 
provinces  Ity  the  popes,  ami  the  union  of  tiie  kingdom  of  Na- 
ples to  the  dominions  of  the  house  of  Suabia. 

In  Frederic  Harbarossa  the  Italians  found  a  very  different 
povcreign  fnun  tiie  two  last  emperors,  Lothaire  ami  Conrad 
III.,  who  lijul  seldom  appeared  in  Italy,  and  with  forces  quite 
inadcipcite  to  control  such  insubonliiiate  subjects.  The  dis- 
tini.nii'lied  valor  and  ability  of  thi-;  prince  rendered  a  >evert? 
atid  arliitrarv  temper  and  a  haughty  conceit  of  his  imperial 
rights  more  formidalile.     He  believed,  or  professed  to  believe, 

'  Oiho  FrUingcDs.  p.  710;    Miiratrirl.  ad.  1"1!7. 


358  FREDERIC  BARBAROSSA.  Chap.  III.  Part  I. 

the  magnificent  absurdity,  that,  as  successor  of  Augustus,  he 
inherited  tlie  kingdoms  of  the  world.  In  the  same  riglit,  lie 
more  powerfully,  if  not  more  rationally,  laid  claim  to  the 
entire  prerogatives  of  the  Roman  emperors  over  their  own 
subjects ;  and  in  this  the  professors  of  the  civil  law,  which 
was  now  diligently  studied,  lent  him  their  aid  with  the  utmost 
servility.  To  such  a  disposition  the  self-government  of  the 
Lombard  cities  appeared  mere  rebellion.  Milan  especially, 
the  most  renowned  of  them  all,  drew  down  upon  herself  his 
inveterate  resentment.  He  found,  unfortunately,  too  good  a 
pretence  in  her  behavior  towards  Lodi.  Two  natives  of  that 
ruined  city  threw  themselves  at  the  emperor's  feet,  imploring 
him,  as  the  ultimate  source  of  justice,  to  redress  the  wrongs 
of  their  country.  It  is  a  striking  proof  of  the  terror  in- 
spired by  Milan  that  the  consuls  of  Lodi  disavowed  the  com- 
plaints of  their  countrymen,  and  the  inhabitants  trembled  at 
the  danger  of  provoking  a  summary  vengeance,  against 
which  the  imperial  arms  seemed  no  protection.-^  The  Milan- 
ese, however,  abstained  from  attacking  the  people  of  Lodi, 
though  they  treated  with  contempt  the  emperor's  order  to 
leave  them  at  liberty.  Frederic  meanwhile  came  into  Italy, 
and  held  a  diet  at  Roncaglia,  where  comj^laints  poured  in 
from  many  quarters  against  the  Milanese.  Pavia  and  Cre- 
mona, their  ancient  enemies,  were  impatient  to  renew  hostili- 
ties under  the  imperial  auspices.  Brescia,  Tortona,  and 
Crema  were  allies,  or  rather  dependents,  of  Milan.  Frederic 
soon  took  occasion  to  attack  the  latter  confederacy.  Tortona 
was  compelled  to  surrender  and  levelled  to  the  ground.  But 
a  feudal  army  was  soon  dissolved ;  the  emperor  had  much  to 
demand  his  attention  at  Rome,  where  he  was  on  ill  terms 
with  Adrian  IV. ;  and  wdien  the  imperial  troops  were  with- 
dra^\n  from  Lombardy,  the  Milanese  rebuilt  Tortona,  and 
expelled  the  citizens  of  Lodi  from  their  dwellings.  Frederic 
assembled  a  fresh  army,  to  which  almost  every  city  of  Lom- 
bardy, willingly  or  by  force,  contributed  its  militia.  It  is  said 
to  have  exceeded  a  hundred  thousand  men.  The  Milanese 
shut  themselves  up  within  their  walls;  and  perhaps  might 
have  defied  the  imperial  forces,  if  their  immense  population, 
which  gave  them  confidence  in  arms,  had  not  exposed  them 

1  See  an  interesting  account  of  these  reproacties  Morena  for  partiality  towards 

circumstances  in  the  narrative  of  Otho  Frederic   in    the    Milanese    war,   should 

Morena,  a  citizen  of  Lodi.     Script,  ller.  have  remembered    the    provocation.'i  of 

Ital.   t.  Ti.   p.  966.    M.   Sismou(U,   who  Lodi.     Ilist.  des  Repub.  Ital.  t.  ii.  p.  102. 


Italy.  CAPTURE  OF  MILAN.  3d9 

to  a  tlitferent  enemy.  Milan  was  obliged  by  hunger  to  capitu- 
late, upon  conditions  not  very  severe,  if  a  vanquished  peoi)le 
could  ever  sj.fely  rely  upon  the  convention  that  testities  their 
submission. 

Frederic,  aHer  the  surrender  of  ^lilan,  held  a  diet  at 
Roncaglia,  where  the  etiect  of  his  victories  wasjj.^|.^j. 
fatally  perceived.  The  bishops,  the  higher  nobility,  Koncagiia. 
the  lawyers,  vied  with  one  another  in  exalting  his  ^'^'  '^^' 
prerogatives.  He  defined  the  regalian  rights,  as  they  were 
called,  in  such  a  manner  as  to  exclude  the  cities  and  i^rivate 
projuuetors  from  coining  money,  and  from  tolls  or  territorial 
dues,  which  they  had  for  many  years  possessed.  These, 
however,  he  permitted  them  to  retain  for  a  pecuniary  stipula- 
tion. A  more  imjjortant  innovation  was  the  appointment  of 
magistrates,  with  the  title  of  podestjv,  to  administer  justice 
concurrently  with  the  consuls ;  but  he  soon  proceeded  to 
abolish  the  latter  office  in  many  cities,  and  to  throw  the  whole 
government  into  the  hands  of  his  own  magistrates,  lie  pro- 
hibited the  cities  i'rom  levving  war  ajrainst  each  other.  It 
may  be  pre-umed  that  he  showed  no  favor  to  IMilan.  The 
capituhition  w:ls  set  at  naught  in  its  most  express  provisions; 
a  ixxlesta  was  sent  to  supersede  the  consuls,  and  part  of  the 
territory  taki.'U  away.  Whatever  might  be  the  risk  of  resist- 
ance, anil  the  3Iilanese  had  experience  enough  not  to  under- 
value it,  they  were  determined  rather  to  see  their  liberties  at 
once  overthrown  than  gradually  destroyed  by  a  faithless 
tyrant.  Tiiey  availed  tlu-mselves  of  tiie  absence  of  his  army 
to  renew  the  war.  Its  issue  was  more  calaiuitous  than  that 
of  the  lji.«*t.  Almost  all  Lombaixly  lay  patient  under  subjec- 
tion. The  small  town  of  Crema,  always  the  faithfid  ally  of 
Milan,  stooil  a  memorable  siege  against  the  imperial  army  ; 
but  till'  inhai/itants  were  ultimately  com[)elled  to  capitulate 
for  tln'ir  liv«;s,  and  the  viinlictive  Cremonese  razed  their 
«lwellings  to  tlie  ground.^  Ibit  all  smaller  calami-  capture  and 
ties  were  forgotten  when  the  great  city  of  Milan,  <iL'stru<tiou 
worn  out  by  famine  rather  than  >ubdued  by  force,  " 
was  redui-ed  to  surrender  at  discretion.  L()nil)ar(ly  stood 
in  anxious  suspense  to  know  the  determination  of  Frederic 

' '  '■       1.1  U  told  at  (frwit  count  of  the  inetlioila  usisl  In  tlio  nttiick 

1.  >     It  1<  iMtcnrctinK,  an.l  ilcfiMiii' <il'  l'nrtlM<-l  pl.ieiM  Lrlnre  tho 

ti'-    '   ■ -"iT.llMiiry,  liitr<i<Uirtiiin    "f    artillery.      Srrip.     Ker. 

tliouKli    111!  n<'e  aiij  lUil.  t.  vi.  p.  llJ32-10ij2. 

Intrepidity,  '                             ■    ;    ■  lilcl  ue- 


360  LEAGUE  OF  LOMBAEDY     Chap.  III.  Part  I. 

respecting  this  ancient  metropolis,  the  seat  of  the  early  Chris- 
tian emperors,  and  second  only  to  Rome  in  the  hierarchy  of 
the  Latin  church.  A  delay  of  three  weeks  excited  fiillaeious 
hopes ;  but  at  the  end  of  that  time  an  order  was  given  to  the 
Milanese  to  evacuate  their  habitations.  The  deserted  streets 
were  instantly  occupied  by  the  imperial  army ;  the  people  of 
Pavia  and  Cremona,  of  Lodi  and  Conio,  were  commissioned 
to  revenge  themselves  on  the  respective  quarters  of  the  city 
assigned  to  them  ;  and  in  a  few  days  the  pillaged  churches 
stood  alone  amidst  the  ruins  of  what  had  been  Milan. 

There  was  now  little  left  of  that  freedom  to  which  Lom- 
bardy  had  aspired  :  it  was  gone  like  a  pleasant 
dream,  and  she  awoke  to  the  fears  and  miseries  of 
servitude.  Frederic  obeyed  the  dictates  of  his  vindictive 
temper,  and  of  the  policy  usual  among  statesmen.  He  abro- 
gated the  consular  regimen  in  some  even  of  the  cities  which 
had  supported  him,  and  established  his  podesta  in  their  place. 
This  magistrate  was  always  a  stranger,  frequently  not  even 
an  Italian ;  and  he  came  to  his  office  with  all  those  prejudices 
against  the  people  he  was  to  govern  which  cut  oif  every  hope 
of  justice  and  humanity.  The  citizens  of  Lombardy,  espe- 
cially the  Milanese,  who  had  been  dispersed  in  the  villages 
adjoining  their  ruined  capital,  Avere  unable  to  meet  the  per- 
petual demands  of  tribute.  In  some  parts,  it  is  said,  two 
thirds  of  the  produce  of  their  lands,  the  only  wealth  that  re- 
mained, were  extorted  from  them  by  the  imperial  officers. 
It  was  in  vain  that  they  prostrated  themselves  at  the  feet  of 
Frederic.  He  gave  at  the  best  only  vague  promises  of  re- 
dress ;  they  were  in  his  eyes  rebels  ;  his  delegates  had  acted 
as  faithful  officers,  whom,  even  if  they  had  gone  a  little  be- 
yond his  intentions,  he  could  not  be  expected  to  punish. 

But  there  still  remained  at  the  heai*t  of  Lombardy  the 
League  of  Strong  principle  of  national  liberty,  imperishable 
Lombardy       among  the  perisliinQ-  armies  of  her  patriots,  incon- 

ao-aiust  ,  .  , 

Frederic.  sumablc  in  the  conflagration  of  her  cities.-^  Those 
A.D.  1167.  whom  private  animosities  had  led  to  assist  the 
German  conqueror  blushed  at  the  degradation  of  their  coun- 
try, and  at  the  share  they  had  taken  in  it.  A  league  was 
secretly  formed,  in  which  Cremona,  one  of  the  chief  cities  on 
the  imperial   side,  took  a  prominent  part.      Those  beyond 

1  Quae  neque  Darclaniis  campis  potuere  perire, 
Nee  cum  capta  capi,  nee  cum  combusta  cremari. — Enniiis. 


Italy.  AGAINST  FREDERIC.  3G1 

the  Adi^e,  hitherto  not  iinu-h  engaged  in  tlie  disputes  of 
central  Lonihardy,  had  ah'eady  formed  a  separate  eonfederaey 
to  seeure  thein>elvesi  from  enoroachments,  which  appeared 
the  more  unjust,  as  they  had  never  borne  arms  against  tlie 
emperor.     Their  first  suceesses    corresponded    to        ,,.,, 

1  •  •  •         1  •  TT  1  •  11    ■*•"•   lit**- 

the  justice  ot  their  cause;  rrederie  was  rejuilsed 
from  the  territory  of  Verona,  a  fortunate  augury  for  the  rest 
of  LiJinbardy.  These  two  chisters  of  cities  on  the  east  and 
west  of  the  Adige  now  united  themselves  into  the  lamous 
Lombard  league,  the  terms  of  which  were  settled  in  a  general 
diet.  Their  alliance  was  to  last  twenty  yeai's,  during  which 
they  pledged  themselves  to  mutual  assistance  against  any  one 
who  should  exact  more  from  tliem  than  they  had  been  used 
to  peribrm  from  the  time  of  Ileury  to  the  first  coming  of 
Frederic  into  Italy  ;  imiilying  in  this  the  recovery  of  their 
elective  magistracies,  their  rights  of  war  and  peace,  and  those 
lucrative  privileges  which,  under  the  name  of  regalian,  had 
been  wrested  from  them  in  the  diet  of  Koncaglia.^ 

Tliis  union  of  the  Lombard  cities  was  formed  at  a  very 
favor.d)le  juncture.  Frederic  had  almost  ever  since  his 
accession  been  engaged  in  o})en  hostility  witli  the  see  of 
Rome,  and  was  pursuing  the  fruitless  policy  of  Henry  IV., 
who  iiad  endeavored  to  substitute  an  antipope  of  his  own 
liiction  for  the  legitimate  pontiff.  In  the  jirosecufion  of  tiiis 
sciieme  lie  had  lie.-ieged  Koine  with  a  great  army,  wliich,  the 
citizens  resisting  longer  than  he  expected,  fell  a  prey  to  the 
autumnal  jtestilence  which  visits  the  neigliI)Oihoo<l  (tf  that 
cajjital.  The  flower  of  German  nobility  was  cut  ott"  by  this 
csilamity,  and  the  emperor  recrossed  the  Alps,  entirely  unable 
for  the  |)resent  to  withstand  tlie  Lombard  confederacy.  Their 
first  overt  act  of  insurrection  was  the  rebuilding  of  ]\Iilan  ; 
the  confederal*'  troops  all  joiiUMl  in  this  undertaking;  and  the 
Milanese,  still  niinu'rous,  though  dispersed  and  persecuted, 
revived  as  a  powerful  republic.  Lodi  was  compelled  to 
enter  into  the  league  ;  Pavia  alone  continued  on  tlie  inipe- 

'  ^'■  '  •'■•■  • ■■ \  . .....iiti.,,,«  nf  the  nny  nnnirrical  desi;;nation,  to  intvrprot 

I/'                                                          ::il   nu-  it  of  till?  l.ifit  bv.iriiiif  that  iitimc;  iic  wo 

til                                                            •  rtntion.  (Uiv  Kin;;  W'illiiiiii,  for  \Villi:iiii  thi- Thinl. 

The  wopIji,  n  tJ-iii|M)n- lii-iiru'i  i(i-|;iH  iinquo  Ami  rtTUiinly  the  lilnTtirs  nf  l,oiiil>:ir>ly 

><1  Inlmituiii  hiiiM-nil'irl"  Kn-'ii-rirl,  li-nvo  wct«  more  iM-rfcrt  uinlcr  llriirj   V.  Ihiin 

It  niiihl^uoaa  wlilrh  nf  the  lli'iiricK  wim  hix  fiithiT;  iH'siclcM  whi<  li,   thi'  one  rriifii 

|iiU-iii|i-<l.     Munit'iri  thiiiku  it  wah  lli-iiry  iiii|;ht  Htill  Ix'  n'liiciiilirri'd,  iiinl  thv  otlii-r 

IV     '                •'         •       th.Mi  1)1-^1111  to  he  rc'Kt^'il  ill  tniilitinii.     The  iiuf.-itioii,  liow- 

lii  .                                     ■.  howcviT,   iiutii-  ever,  ii«  of  Utile  iiiomuiit. 

mi.  — .;   .     iiiciitiuiieU    without 


362  PEACE  OF  CONSTANCE.     Chap.  III.  Part  I. 

rial  side.  As  a  check  to  Pavia,  and  to  the  marquis  of  Mont- 
ferrat,  the  most  potent  of  the  independent  nobihty,  the 
Lombards  planned  the  erection  of  a  new  city  between  the 
conhnes  of  these  two  enemies,  in  a  rich  plain  to  the  south  of 
the  Po,  and  bestowed  upon  it,  in  comphment  to  the  Pope, 
Alexander  III.,  the  name  of  Alessandria.  Though,  from  its 
hasty  construction,  Alessandria  was  even  in  that  age  deem- 
ed rude  in  appearance,  it  rapidly  became  a  thriving  and 
populous  city.-^  The  intrinsic  energy  and  resources  of  Lom- 
bardy  were  now  made  manifest.  Frederic,  who  had  tri- 
umphed by  their  disunion,  was  unequal  to  contend  against 
their  league.  After  several  years  of  indecisive  war  the 
emperor  invaded  the  Milanese  territory ;  but  the  confederates 
gave  him  battle,  and  gained  a  complete  victory  at  Legnano. 
Frederic  escaped  alone  and  disguised  from  the 
Legnano.  field,  with  little  hope  of  raising  a  fresh  army, 
A.D.  11(6.  though  still  reluctant  from  shame  to  acquiesce  in 
the  freedom  of  Lombardy.  He  was  at  length  persuaded, 
through  the  mediation  of  the  republic  of  Venice,  to  consent 
to  a  truce  of  six  years,  the  provisional  terms  of  which  were 
all  favorable  to  the  league.  It  was  weakened,  however,  by 
the  defection  of  some  of  its  own  members ;  Cremona,  which 
had  never  cordially  united  with  her  ancient  enemies,  made 
separate  conditions  with  Frederic,  and  suffered  herself  to  be 
named  among  the  cities  on  the  imperial  side  in  the  armistice. 
Tortona  and  even  Alessandria  followed  the  same  course 
during  the  six  years  of  its  duration ;  a  fatal  testimony  of 
unsubdued  animosities,  and  omen  of  the  calamities  of  Italy. 
At  the  expiration  of  the  truce  Frederic's  anxiety  to  secure 
Peace  of  ^^^^  ci'own  for  his  son  overcame  his  pride,  and  the 
Constance,  famous  pcacc  of  Constaucc  established  the  Lom- 
^'^'       '       bard  republics  in  real  independence. 

By  the  treaty  of  Constance  the  cities  were  maintained  in 
the  enjoyment  of  all  the  regalian  rights,  whether  within  their 
walls  or  in  their  district,  which  they  could  claim  by  usage. 
Those  of  levying  war,  of  erecting  fortifications,  and  of  admin- 
istering civil  and  criminal  justice,  were  specially  mentioned. 
The  nomination  of  their  consuls,  or  other  magistrates,  was 
left  absolutely  to  the  citizens ;  but  they  were  to  receive  the 

1  Alessandria  was  surnamed,  in  deri-  Csesarea,  as  it  is  actually  called  in  the 

sion,  della  paglia,  fi^m  the  thatch  with  peace  of  Constance,  being  at  that  time 

whicli  the  houses  were  covered.     Frederic  on  the  imperial  side.     But  it  soon  recov- 

was  very  desirous  to  change  its  name  to  ered  its  former  appellation. 


Italy.  PEACE  OF  CONSTANCE.  3G3 

investiture  of  their  ollice  from  an  imperial  lepite.  The  eus- 
toiuarv  tributes  of  provision  during  tlie  emperor's  resitlenee 
in  Itaiv  were  preserved;  iind  he  was  autliorized  to  apj^int  in 
everv  eitv  a  judire  of  appeal  in  eivil  causes.  The  Lomliard 
league  was  eoulirmed,  and  the  eities  were  permitted  to  renew 
it  at  their  own  discretion  ;  but  they  were  to  take  every  ten 
years  an  oath  of  tidelity  to  the  emperor.  This  just  compact 
preserved,  along  witli  every  security  for  the  liberties  and 
welfare  of  the  cities,  as  much  of  the  imperial  prerogatives  as 
could  be  exercised  by  a  foreign  sovereign  consistently  with 
the  people's  happiness.^ 

The  successt'ul  insurrection  of  Lombardy  is  a  memorable 
refutation  of  that  system  of  policy  to  which  its  advocates  give 
the  appellation  of  vigorous,  and  which  they  perpetually  hold 
forth  as  the  only  means  through  which  a  disatfected  people 
are  to  be  restniined.  Bv  a  certain  class  of  statesmen,  and 
bv  all  men  of  harsh  and  violent  disposition,  measures  of  con- 
ciliation, adherence  to  the  spirit  of  treaties,  regard  to  ancient 
privileges,  or  to  those  rules  of  moral  justice  which  are  para- 
mount to  all  positive  right,  are  always  treated  with  derision. 
Terror  is  their  only  specific ;  and  the  phy.-ical  inability  to 
rebtd  their  oidy  security  for  allegiance.  IJut  if  the  razing  of 
cities,  the  abrogation  of  i)rivileges,  the  impoverishment  and 
o]ipression  of  a  nation  could  assure  its  constant  submission, 
Frederic  liarbarossa  would  never  have  seen  the  militia  of 
Lombardy  arrayed  against  him  at  Legnano.  Whatever  may 
be  the  pressure  upon  a  conquered  people,  there  will  come  a 
moment  of  their  recoil.  Nor  is  it  mat<Mial  to  allege,  in 
aii-wer  to  the  proent  in>taiiee,  that  the  accidental  destruction 
of  Frederic's  army  by  disease  enabled  the  cities  of  Lombardy 
to  .succeed  in  thfir  resistiuice.  The  fact  may  well  be  dis- 
I»uted,  since  Lombardy,  when  united,  ap|tears  to  have  been 
more  than  ecpial  to  a  contest  with  any  German  force  that 
could  have  ber-n  brought  again.st  her;  but  even  if  we  admit 
the  effect  of  this  circinnstanee,  it  only  exhibits  th(^  preca- 
ri<ju>ness  of  a  policy  wliich  collateral  events  are  always  lialile 
to  disturb.  Providence  reserves  to  it.self  various  means  by 
which  the  Ixjud-  of  the  oppri'ssor  mav  be  bi'oken  ;  anil  it  is 
not  for  human  sagacity  to  anticipate  whether  the  army  of  a 
coiupieror  .-hall  moulder  in  the  unwholesome  marshes  of 
liome  or  stiffen  with  frost  in  a  Russian  winter. 

>  .Muntori,  AntiquitutvH  Ibilitc,  Din*.  60. 


364  AFFAIRS   OF  SICILY.         Chap.  III.  Pakt  I. 

The  peace  of  Constance  presented  a  noble  opportunity  to 
the  Lombards  of  estabUshing  a  permanent  federal  union  of 
small  republics  ;  a  form  of  government  congenial  from  the 
earliest  ages  to  Italy,  and  that,  perhaps,  under  which  she  is 
again  destined  one  day  to  flourish.  They  were  entitled  by 
the  provisions  of  that  treaty  to  preserve  their  league,  the 
basis  of  a  more  perfect  confederacy,  Avhich  the  course  of 
events  would  have  emancipated  from  every  kind  of  subjec- 
tion to  Germany.^  But  dark,  long-cherished  hatreds,  and 
that  implacable  vindictiveness  which,  at  least  in  former  ages, 
distinguished  the  private  manners  of  Italy,  deformed  her 
national  character,  which  can  only  be  the  aggregate  of  in- 
dividual passions.  For  revenge  she  threw  away  the  pearl 
of  great  price,  and  sacrificed  even  the  recollection  of  that 
liberty  which  had  stalked  like  a  majestic  spirit  among  the 
ruins  of  Milan.^  It  passed  away,  that  high  disdain  of  abso- 
lute power,  that  steadiness  and  self-devotion,  which  raised  the 
half-civilized  Lombards  of  the  twelfth  century  to  the  level  of 
those  ancient  republics  from  whose  history  our  first  notions 
of  freedom  and  virtue  are  derived.  The  victim  by  turns  of 
selfish  and  sanguinary  factions,  of  petty  tyrants,  and  of 
foreign  invaders,  Italy  has  fallen  like  a  star  from  its  place  in 
heaven ;  she  has  seen  her  harvests  trodden  down  by  the 
horses  of  the  stranger,  and  the  blood  of  her  children  wasted 
in  quai'rels  not  their  own :  Conquering  or  conquered,  in  the 
indignant  language  of  her  poet,  still  alike  a  slaved  a  long 
retribution  for  the  tyranny  of  Rome. 

Frederic  did  not  attempt  to  molest  the  cities  of  Lombardy 
Affairs  of  '^^^  the  enjoyment  of  those  privileges  conceded  by 
Sicily.  tjie  treaty  of  Constance.     His  ambition  was  di- 

verted to  a  new  scheme  for  ao-Jirandizino;  the  house  of  Suabia 
by  the  marriage  of  his  eldest  son  Henry  with  Constance,  the 
aunt  and  heiress  of  Wilham  II.,  king  of  Sicily.  That  king- 
dom, which  the  first  monarch  Roger  had  elevated  to  a  high 

1  Tliougli  there  was  no  permanent  diet  in  a  federal  constitvition.  — Muratori,  An- 

of  the  Lombard  league,  the  consuls  and  tichiti  Itahane,  t.  iii.  p.  126;  Dissert.  50; 

podestis  of  the  respective  cities  compos-  Sismondi,  t.  ii.  p.  189. 

ing  it  occasionally  met  in  congress  to  de-  2  Anzi  girar  la  liberti  mirai, 

liberate  upon  measures  of  general  safety.  E  baciar  lieta  ogni  ruina,  e  dire, 

Thus  assembled,  they  were  called  Recto-  Ruine  si,  ma  servitu  non  mai. 

res  Societatis  Lombardia).     It  is  evident  Gaetana  Passerini  (ossia  ])iutosto 

that,  if  Lombardy  had  continued  in  any  Giovan    Battista   Pastoriiii.)  in 

degree  to  preserve  the  spirit  of  union,  Mathias,   Componimeuti    Lirici, 

this  congress  might  readily  have  become  vol.  iii.  p.  331. 

a  permanent  body,  like  the  Helvetic  diet,  s  Per  servir  sempre,  o  vincitrice  o  viuta. 

with  as  extensive  powers  as  are  necessary  — Filicaja. 


Italy.  INNOCENT  III.  3G5 

pitch  ut"  ivudwii  ami  ih)\voi\  fell  into  decay  throutrli  the 
miscoiuhict  ut"  his  sou  Williuin,  siiniainecl  the  Bad.  and  did 
not  recover  much  of  its  lustre  under  the  secontl  "William, 
thouirh  styled  the  Good.  His  death  without  issue  was 
apparently  no  remote  event ;  and  Constance  was  the  sole 
legitimate  survivor  of  tlie  royal  family.  It  is  a  curious  cir- 
cumstance that  no  hereditary  kingdom  appears  absolutely  to 
have  excluded  females  from  its  throne,  except  that  wliich 
from  its  magnitude  was  ut"  all  the  most  secure  from  falling 
into  the  condition  of  a  province.  The  Sicihans  felt  too 
late  the  defect  of  their  constitution,  which  permitted  an 
independent  i)eople  to  be  transferred,  as  the  dowry  of  a 
woman,  to  a  foreign  prince,  by  whose  ministers  they  might 
justly  expect  to  be  insulted  and  up])ressed.  Henry,  whose 
marriage  with  Constance  took  place  in  118(5,  and  who  suc- 
ceeded in  her  riglit  to  the  throne  of  Sicily  three  years  after- 
wards, was  exasperated  by  a  courageous  but  unsuccessful 
effort  of  the  Norman  barons  to  jireserve  the  crown  for  an 
illegitimate  branch  of  the  royal  family;  and  his  reign  is 
disgraced  by  a  series  of  atrocious  cruelties.  The  power  of 
the  hou>e  of  Snabia  was  now  at  its  zenith  on  each  side  of  the 
Alps;  Hem-y  received  the  Imperial  crown  the  year  after  his 
fatlicr's  death  in  the  third  crusade,  and  even  prevailed  upon 
the  princes  of  Germany  to  elect  his  infant  son  Frederic  as 
his  successor.  But  his  own  pninalure  decease  clouded  the 
prospects  of  Ids  family:  Constance  survived  him  l»ut  a  year; 
and  a  child  of  four  years  old  was  left  with  the  inheritance  of 
a  kingdom  which  his  father's  severity  had  rendered  disaf- 
fectefl,  and  which  the  leaxlers  of  German  mercenaries  in  his 
service  desolated  and  disputed. 

During  tin.'  minority  of  Frederic  II.,  from  1108  to  121 G, 
the  papal  chair  was  filled  by  Innocent  HI.,  a  name  i„„ocent 
second  ciidv,  and  h.inlly  sec(jnd,  to  that  of  Gregory  '"■ 
VII.  Young,  noble,  and  intrepid,  he  united  witli  the  accus- 
tomed spirit  of  eecle-iastical  usurpation,  whicli  no  one  had 
ever  carried  to  so  high  a  jioint,  the  more  worldly  ambition  of 
consolidating  a  separate  jirincipality  for  the  Holy  See  in  the 
Ci.-ntre  of  Italy.  The  real  or  sj)m-ious  donations  of  Constan- 
tine.  Pepin,  Charlemagne,  and  Loiii-;,  hail  given  rise  to  a 
p<-rpetual  claim,  on  the  jiart  of  the  popes,  li>  very  extensive 
dominiont ;  but  little  of  this  had  beeu  iffectnatid,  and  in 
li^jme   itself  they  were  thwarted   by   the   prefect,  an  oHicer 


366       BEQUEST  OF  COUNTESS  MATILDA.    Chap.  III.  Pakt  I. 

who  swore  fidelity  to  the  emperor,  and  by  the  insubordinate 
spirit  of  the  people.  In  the  very  neighborhood  the  small 
cities  owned  no  subjection  to  the  capital,  and  were  probably 
as  much  self-governed  as  those  of  Lombardy.  One  is  trans- 
ported back  to  the  earliest  times  of  the  republic  in  reading  of 
the  desperate  wars  between  Rome  and  Tibur  or  Tusculum ; 
neither  of  which  was  subjugated  till  the  latter  part  of  the 
twelfth  century.  At  a  further  distance  were  the  duchy  of 
Spoleto,  the  march  of  Ancona,  and  what  had  been  the  ex- 
archate of  Ravenna,  to  all  of  which  the  jiopes  had  more  or 
less  grounded  pretensions.  Early  in  the  last-mentioned  age 
the  famous  countess  Matilda,  to  whose  zealous  protection 
Gregory  VII.  had  been  eminently  indebted  during  his  long 
dispute  with  the  emperor,  granted  the  reversion  of  all  her 
possessions  to  the  Holy  See,  first  in  the  lifetime  of  Gregory, 
and  again  under  the  pontificate  of  Paschal  III.  These  were 
very  extensive,  and  held  by  different  titles.  Of  her  vast 
Be  uest  of  imperial  fiefs,  Mantua,  Modena,  and  Tuscany,  she 
the  countess  certainly  could  not  dispose.  The  duchy  of  Spoleto 
latiida.  ^^^1  march  of  Ancona  were  supposed  to  rest  upon 
a  different  footing.  I  confess  myself  not  distinctly  to  com- 
prehend the  nature  of  this  part  of  her  succession.  These 
had  been  formerly  among  the  great  fiefs  of  the  kingdom  of 
Italy.  But  if  I  understand  it  rightly,  they  had  tacitly  ceased 
to  be  subject  to  the  emperors  some  years  before  they  were 
seized  by  Godfrey  of  Lorraine,  father-in-law  and  step-father 
of  Matilda.  To  his  son,  her  husband,  she  succeeded  in  the 
possession  of  those  countries.  They  are  commonly  consid- 
ered as  her  alodial  or  patrimonial  property  ;  yet  it  is  not  easy 
to  see  how,  being  herself  a  subject  of  the  empire,  she  could 
transfer  even  her  alodial  estates  from  its  sovereignty.  Nor 
on  the  other  hand  can  it  apparently  be  maintained  that  she 
was  lawful  sovereign  of  countries  which  had  not  long  since 
been  imperial  fiefs,  and  the  suzerainty  over  which  had  never 
been  renounced.  The  original  title  of  the  Holy  See,  there- 
fore, does  not  seem  incontestable  even  as  to  this  part  of  Ma- 
tilda's donation.  But  I  state  with  hesitation  a  difficulty  to 
which  the  authors  I  have  consulted  do  not  advert.^     It  is 

1  It  is  almost  hopeless  to  look  for  ex-  the  whole,  the  fairest  of  them  all,  moves 

plicit  information   upon  the  rights  and  cautiously  over  this  grouml;  except  when 

pretensions  of  the  Roman  see  iu  Italian  the  claims  of  Rome  happen  to  clash  with 

writers  even  of  the  eighteenth  century,  those  of  the  house  of  Este.     But  I  have 

Muratori,  the   most   learned,  and  upon  not  been   able  to  satisfy  myself  by  the 


Italy.  ECCLESIASTICAL  STATE  REDUCED.  307 

certain,  however,  that  the  emperors  kept  possession  of  the. 
whole  ihiring  the  twelfth  oentnrv,  and  treated  both  Spoleto 
and  Aneona  as  parts  of  the  empire,  notwithstanding  continnid 
remonstrances  from  the  Homan  jtontitis.  Frederic  Barlia- 
rossa,  at  tlie  negotiations  of  Venice  in  1177,  promised  to 
restore  the  patrimony  of  Matilda  in  tifteen  years ;  but  at  the 
close  of  tliat  period  Ileiu-y  VI.  was  not  disposed  to  execute 
this  arrangenniit.  ami  granted  the  county  in  lief  to  some  of 
his  German  followers.  I'pon  his  death  the  circumstances 
were  favorable  to  Innocent  III.  The  infant  king  of  Sicily 
had  been  intrusted  by  Constance  to  his  guardianship.  A 
double  (dection  of  Pliilij).  brother  of  Ilein-y  VI.,  and  of 
Otho  duke  of  Brunswick,  engaged  the  princes  of  Germany, 
who  had  entirely  overlookecl  tlie  claims  of  young  Frederic, 
in  a  doubtful  civil  war.  Neither  party  was  in  a  condition  to 
enter  Italv ;  and  the  inijierial  dignity  wivs  vacant  for  several 
years,  till,  the  death  of  Pliilip  removing  one  competitor,  Otho 
IV..  whom  the  j)ope  had  constantly  favored,  was  crowned 
emperor.  During  this  interval  the  Italians  had  no  superior ; 
and  Innocent  availed  himstdf  of  it  to  maintain  the  pretensions 
of  the  see.  These  he  backed  Ity  the  produetion  of  rather  a 
questionable  document,  the  will  of  Ilemy  VI.,  said  to  have 
been  found  among  the  baggage  of  Marquard,  one  of  the 
German  soldiers  who  had  been  invested  with  fiefs  by  the 
late  emperor.  The  cities  of  what  we  now  call  the  Ecciesiusti- 
ecclesi;L>tic:il  state  had  in  the  tweltlh  century  their  fni  stato  ro- 
own  nnniicipal  govennnent  like  those  of  Lombardy ;  innocent 
but  tlwv  were  far  less  able  to  assert  a  complete  in-  ^'^• 
depen<leiiee.  They  gladly,  therefore,  put  themstdves  under 
the  protection  of  the  Holy  See,  which  held  out  some  prospect 
of  securing  tln-m  from  ^^a^lMard  an<l  other  rapacious  parti- 
sans, without  di.-turliing  their  internal  regidations.  Thus  the 
duchy  of  Spoleto  and  march  of  Aneona  submitted  to  Innocent 
III.;  but  lie  wa.s  not  strong  enough  to  keep  constant  posses- 
sion of  su<h  extensive  territories,  and  some  years  afterwards 
a<h>pt«-d  th<-  prudent  course  of  granting  Ancdua  in  tief  to  the 
nianpiis  of  Este.  He  did  not,  as  may  be  supposed,  neglect 
lii'  authoritv  at  home;  the  prefect  of  Rome  wa<  now  com- 
JK-dled  to  ^v^'•.•^|•  :dli'_'iatic<'  to  the    pope,  which   put    .111    cud    to 

p«-r  '  I-     leiiriiliiif  (warrcly  iiifiTinr  In  tliiit  nf  Mu- 

ti<<  II-     nituri,   iKiftfX-KFi-il   iiHiri'  ii|i|iortuiilty  unU 

do  1  lift     ii     iiMa>,    I    ir  I.   Mill,   uitli     lui'Uiiutiuii  tu  aiiviik  uut. 


368  LEAGUE  OF  TUSCANY.      Chap.  III.  Part  I. 

the  regular  imperial  supremacy  over  that  city,  and  the  privi- 
leges of  the  citizens  were  abridged.  This  is  the  proper  era 
of*  that  temporal  sovereignty  which  the  bishops  of  Rome 
possess  over  their  own  city,  though  still  prevented  by  various 
causes,  for  nearly  three  centuries,  from  becoming  unques- 
tioned and  unlimited. 

The  policy  of  Rome  was  now  more  clearly  defined  than 
ever.  In  order  to  preserve  what  she  had  thus  suddenly 
gained  rather  by  opportunity  than  strength,  it  was  her  interest 
to  enfeeble  the  imperial  power,  and  consequently  to  maintain 
League  of  the  freedom  of  the  Italian  republics.  Tuscany 
Tuscany.  J^.^^|  hitherto  been  ruled  by  a  marquis  of  the  em- 
peror's appointment,  though  her  cities  were  flourishing,  and, 
within  themselves,  independent.  In  imitation  of  the  Lom- 
bard confederacy,  and  impelled  by  Innocent  III.,  they  now 
(with  the  exception  of  Pisa,  which  was  always  strongly 
attached  to  the  empire)  formed  a  similar  league  for  the 
preservation  of  their  rights.  In  this  league  the  influence 
of  the  pope  was  far  more  strongly  manifested  than  in  that 
of  Lombardy.  Although  the  latter  had  been  in  alliance 
with  Alexander  III.,  and  was  formed  during  the  height  of 
his  dispute  with  Frederic,  this  ecclesiastical  quarrel  mingled 
so  little  in  their  struggle  for  liberty  that  no  allusion  to  it  is 
found  in  the  act  of  their  confederacy.  But  the  Tuscan  union 
was  expressly  established  "  for  the  honor  and  aggrandizement 
of  the  apostolic  see."  The  members  bound  themselves  to 
defend  the  possessions  and  rights  of  the  church,  and  not  to 
acknowledge  any  king  or  emperor  without  the  approbation 
of  the  supreme  pontiff.^  The  Tuscans  accordingly  were 
more  thoroughly  attached  to  the  church  party  than  the  Lom- 
bards, whose  principle  was  animosity  towards  the  house  of 
Suabia.  Hence,  when  Innocent  IIL,  some  time  after,  sup- 
ported Frederic  II.  against  the  emperor  Otho  IV.,  the  Mi- 
lanese and  their  allies  were  arranged  on  the  imperial  side ; 
but  the  Tuscans  continued  to  adhere  to  the  pope. 

In  the  wars  of   Frederic  Barbarossa  against  Milan  and 

Factions  of     ^^^  aHics,  we  have  seen  the  cities  of  Lombardy 

Gueifs  and      divided,  and  a  considerable  number  of  them  firmly 

attached  to  the  imperial  interest.     It  does  not  ap- 

1  Quod  possessioncs  ct  jura  sacrosanctiB  perent,  nisi  quem  Romanus  pontifex  ap- 
ecclesia;  bona  fide  dcfeiiileront;  et  quod  probiiret.  Muratori,  Dissert.  48.  (Latin, 
nullum  in  regem  aut  iinperatorom  reel-    t.  iv.  p.  320;  Italian,  t.  iii.  p.  112.) 


Italy.  GUELFS  AND  GIIIBELIXS.  369 

pear.  I  believe,  from  history,  tliough  it  is  by  no  means  im- 
probable, that  the  citizens  were  at  so  early  a  time  divided 
amonir  themselves,  as  to  their  line  of  public  poliey,  and  that 
the  adhi-renee  of  a  particular  eity  to  the  emperor,  or  to  the 
Lombard  leajjue,  was  only,  as  proved  afterwards  the  case, 
that  one  faction  or  another  acquired  an  ascendancy  in  its 
councils.  l)Ut  ji'alou<ies  lonj;  exi-tinir  between  th<>  ditf'crent 
cLisses,  and  onlv  su-iK'nded  bv  tlie  national  stniiiirlc  which 
terminated  at  Constance,  gave  rise  to  new  modifications  of  in- 
terests, an<l  new  relations  towards  the  empire.  About  the 
year  12<>().  or  perliaps  a  little  later,  the  two  leading  parties 
which  divided  the  cities  of  LomI)ardy,  and  whose  mutual  ani- 
mosity, having  no  general  sul)ject  of  contention,  required  the 
a.sso<'iation  of  a  nanie  to  direct  as  well  as  invigorate  its  preju- 
dices, became  distinguished  by  the  celebrated  appellations  of 
Guelfs  and  Ghibelins ;  the  former  a^lhering  to  the  papal  side, 
the  latter  to  that  of  the  emperor.  These  names  were  derived 
from  Germany,  and  had  l)een  the  rallying  word  of  faction  for 
more  than  half  a  century  in  that  country  before  they  were 
transported  to  a  still  more  favoralde  soil.  The  Guelfs  took 
their  name  from  a  very  illustrious  family,  several  of  whom 
had  successively  been  dukes  of  Bavaria  in  the  tenth  and 
eleventh  centuries.  The  heiress  of  tlu.'  last  of  these  inter- 
married with  a  younger  s(in  of  the  house  of  Este,  a  noble 
family  settled  near  Padua,  and  possessed  of  great  estates  on 
each  !)ank  of  tlie  lower  Po.  They  gave  birth  to  a  second 
line  of  Guelfs.  from  whom  the  royal  house  of  Brunswick  is 
des<-ended.  The  name  of  (ihibelin  is  derived  from  a  villajre 
in  Franconia,  whence  Conrad  the  Salic  came,  the  progenitor, 
through  females,  of  the  Suabian  emperors.  At  the  election 
of  Lotliaire  in  112."».  the  Sua1)ian  f  unily  were  disappointed 
of  wliat  tliey  considered  almost  an  hereditary  possession  ;  and 
at  this  time  an  hostility  appears  to  have  commenced  between 
them  and  tin-  luju-e  of  Giielf  who  were  nearly  related  to  Lo- 
tliaire. Henry  the  Proml,  and  his  son  Henry  the  Lion,  rej)- 
resentiitives  of  the  latter  lamily,  were  fref|uently  persecuted 
by  the  Sii.-iliian  emperors ;  but  their  fortunes  belong  to  the 
hi-tory  of  (ienn:iny.*  Mr-anwiiile  the  elder  branch,  though 
not  reserv«;d  for  such  glorious  destinies  as  the  Guells,  contin- 

1  Ttm    Oprinan   oriiriti   of    thorn    n.'\e-     innttnn   tninHfcrred  to  Itiily.     Stniviim, 
bmt*-"!    brllnna   la  mivi-.I   liy  a     ('or|iUi<  IIM.  lienniiu.  p.  '-i'S,  ainl  .Muru- 

p«Mnf(v  in  Oth".  •■;  wlin  llvi-.l     t/)ri,  a.d.  IIW. 

half  »  coiitury  licifui.    ^.   „,..i  tlie  •Iciioiu- 

Vol,.    I.  24 


370  OTHO  IV.  CHAr.  III.  Part  I. 

ued  to  flourish  in  Italy ;  the  mai'quises  of  Este  were  by  far 
the  most  powerful  nobles  in  eastern  Lombardy,  and  about  the 
end  of  the  twelfth  century  began  to  be  considered  as  the 
heads  of  the  church  party  in  their  neighborhood.  They  were 
frequently  chosen  to  the  office  of  jDodesta,  or  chief  magistrate, 
by  the  cities  of  Romagna  ;  and  in  1208  the  people  of  Fer- 
rara  set  the  fatal  example  of  sacrificing  their  freedom  for 
tranquillity,  by  electing  Azzo  VII.,  marquis  of  Este,  as  their 
lord  or  sovereign.^ 

Otho  IV.  was  son  of  Henry  the  Lion,  and  consequently 
head  of  the  Guelfs.  On  his  obtaining  the  imperial 
crown,  the  prejudices  of  Italian  factions  were  di- 
verted out  of  their  usual  channel.  He  was  soon  enrao-ed  in 
a  quarrel  with  the  pope,  whose  hostility  to  tlie  empire  was 
certain,  into  whatever  hands  it  might  fall.  In  Milan,  how- 
ever, and  generally  in  the  cities  which  had  belonged  to  the 
Lombard  league  against  Frederic  I.,  hatred  of  the  house  of 
Suabia  prevailed  more  than  jealousy  of  the  imperial  prerog- 
atives ;  they  adhered  to  names  rather  than  to  principles,  and 
supported  a  Guelf  emperor  even  against  the  pope.  Terms 
of  this  description,  having  no  definite  relation  to  principles 
which  it  might  be  troublesome  to  learn  and  defend,  are  al- 
ways acceptable  to  mankind,  and  have  the  peculiar  advantage 
of  precluding  altogether  that  spirit  of  compromise  and  ac- 
commodation, by  which  it  is  sometimes  endeavored  to  ob- 
struct their  tendency  to  hate  and  injure  each  other.  From 
this  time,  every  city,  and  almost  every  citizen,  gloried  in  one 
of  these  barbarous  denominations.  In  several  cities  the  im- 
perial party  predominated  through  hatred  of  their  neighbors, 
who  espoused  that  of  the  church.  Thus  the  inveterate  feuds 
between  Pisa  and  Florence,  Modena  and  Bologna,  Cremona 
and  Milan,  threw  them  into  opposite  factions.  But  there 
was  in  every  one  of  these  a  strong  party  against  that  which 
prevailed,  and  consequently  a  Guelf  city  frequently  became 
Ghibelin,  or  conversely,  according  to  the  fluctuations  of  the 
time.^ 

1  Sismondi,  t.  ii.  p.  329.  nulla  si  opero  sotto  nome  o  pretesto  dclle 

-  For  the  Guelf  and  Ghibelin  factions,  fazioni   suddette.      Solamente   ritounoro 

besides  the  historiaos,  the  51st  disserta-  esse   piede   in   alcume    private   famiglie. 

tion  of  Muratori  sliould  be  read.     There  Antichiti   Italiane.   t.   iii.   p.   148.     But 

is  some  degree  of  inaccuracy  in  iiis  Ian-  certainly  the  names  of  Guelf  and  Ghibe- 

guage,  where  he  speaks  of  these  distrac-  lin,  as  party  distinctions,  may  be  traced 

tions  expiring  at   the  beginning  of  the  all  through  the  fifteenth  century.     The 

fifteenth  century.     Quel  secolo,  e   vero,  former  faction  showed  it.self  distinctly  in 

abbondo  anch'  esso  di  molte  guerre,  ma  the  insurrection  of  the  cities  subject  to 


Italy.  FREDERIC   II.  371 

The  change  to  which  we  have  adverted  in  the  politics  of 
the  Giieh"  party  hi.<ted  only  during  the  reign  of 
Otho  I\'.  \Vlien  the  heir  of  tlie  house  of  Sualiia 
grew  u[>  to  nianliood,  Iiuiocent,  who,  thougli  iiis  guardian, 
had  tidcen  little  care  of  liis  interests,  a.s  long  as  he  liatiered 
himself  with  the  liope  of  finding  a  Guelf  emperor  oix-dicnt, 
placed  the  young  Frederic  at  the  head  of  an  o[)posiiion.  com- 
poscil  of  citifs  always  attaciied  to  his  family,  and  of  such  as 
implicitly  followed  the  see  of  Rome.  lie  met  with  considei'- 
ahle  success  lioth  in  Italy  and  Germany,  and  after  the  death 
of  Otho,  received  the  imperial  crown.  But  he  had  no  longer 
to  expect  any  assistance  from  the  })Ope  who  conferred  it.  In- 
nocent was  dead,  and  IIonoriu.s  III.,  his  successor,  could  not 
behold  without  apprehension  the  va-t  power  of  Frederic,  sup- 
ported in  Loinl)ardy  by  a  faction  wiiicli  balanced  that  of  the 
church,  and  menacing  the  ecclesiastical  territories  on  the  oth- 
er side,  by  the  possession  of  Naph-s  and  Sicily.  This  kin'»- 
dom,  feu(hitory  to  Rome,  and  long  her  firmest  allv,  was  now, 
by  a  fatal  connection  which  she  had  not  been  able  to  {)revent, 
thi-own  into  the  scale  of  her  most  dangerous  enemy.  Hence 
the  temporal  dominion  which  Innocent  III.  had  taken  so 
much  pains  to  establisii,  became  a  very  precarious  possession, 
exposed  on  each  side  to  the  attacks  of  a  power  that  had  legit- 
imate pretensions  to  almost  every  province  composing  it. 
The  life  of  Frederic  II.  was  wasted  in  an  unceasing  conten- 
tion with  the  church,  and  with  his  Italian  subjects,  wliom  she 
excited  to  rebellions  against  him.  Without  inveighing,  like 
the  popish  writers,  against  this  prince,  certaiidy  an  encour- 
ager  of  letters,  and  endowed  with  many  eminent  (pialities, 
we  may  lay  to  his  charge  a  good  deal  of  dissimulation ;  I  will 
not  ad<l  ambition.  bccau>e  I  am  not  aware  of  anv  jieriod  in 
the  reign  of  Frederic,  when  lie  wa.s  not  obliged  to  act  on  his 
defence  against  the  aggression  of  others.  But  if  he  had  been 
a  model  of  virtue-,  <ui-h  men  as  IIon(»rius  III.,  Gregorv  IX., 
and  Innocent  I\'„  the  popes  with  whom  he  had  successivelv 

*'•' ••"n  thra«ith  of  Oinn  (iainazzo  .SU-fiino   Infi-SHurn,  iu  14M7.  speaks  faniil- 

1    H"^*.     Ii  npi.-irrl  iiifiiin  in  iurlv  of  thciii.     Si-ript.    Kit.    Itiil.   t.  iii. 

il>t  ..f  tlir   Miliiii.-M-  t.    r,.  -t  ,1..  p.  1221.     And  ovfii    in  the  r-oiii|Ucs(   of 

iiiih  ilK-ir  repuhllc   in    U-j;.  MiUn  l.y  Ixmis  XII.  in   irjiMI.  Hi.' (iiii-lfs 

t.  Ix   )•  .'fil      H<i  in  1477.  I.U'I'  .  i  of  tliut  i-itv  iiri'  rcpn-si'iitril  iiK  iitf.-u-lifil 

m»<|p   Htv  of  <ilil)M-lin  pn-ju<lii.-«    u.  ex-  to  tin-  Kn-ficli  |>iirtv.  wiiiir  the  OliilH-linii 

rlu.lr    ihr    re«iMii   Konnc  >>(  .Suvov  aji  a  al>i-tt<'<l  I,ui|ovii-o  Sfonui  iind  .\Iii.\iniilliiii. 

''       '  "II.    <     xl    1>    7i*.     In   the  Guiroiiirdini,  p.  .'fit'.).     Oflii-r  p:i<«iK'<'s  in 

■lie  tlu-  •iiniH  illHtini-tionH  tin- Hiini«  lii»toriHti  hIiow  thi-.i)' fiu'llonK  to 

..,  ,-  ..   .  .  ., ...    Imimi   pr<-Mrvf<i  ttill  later.  Imvu  liccii  alive  in  various  parts  of  Italy. 


372  FREDERICK  II.  Chap.  III.  Part  I. 

to  contend,  would  not  have  given  him  respite,  while  he  re- 
mained master  of  Naples,  as  well  as  the  empire.-^ 

It  was  the  custom  of  every  pope  to  urge  princes  into  a 
crusade,  which  the  condition  of  Palestine  rendered  indispen- 
sable, or,  more  properly,  desperate.  But  this  great  piece  of 
supererogatory  devotion  had  never  yet  been  raised  into  an 
absolute  duty  of  their  station,  nor  had  even  private  persons 
been  ever  required  to  take  up  the  cross  by  compulsion.  Hono- 
rius  III.,  however,  exacted  a  vow  from  Frederic,  before  he  con- 
ferred upon  him  the  imperial  crown,  that  he  would  undertake 
a  crusade  for  the  deliverance  of  Jerusalem.  Frederic  sub- 
mitted to  this  engagement,  which  perhaps  he  never  designed 
to  keep,  and  certainly  endeavored  afterwards  to  evade. 
Tiiough  he  became  by  marriage  nominal  king  of  Jerusalem,^ 
his  excellent  understanding  was  not  captivated  with  so  barren 
a  prospect,  and  at  length  his  delays  in  the  performance  of  his 
vow  provoked  Gregory  IX.  to  issue  against  him  a  sentence 
of  excommunication.  Such  a  thunderbolt  was  not  to  be 
lightly  regarded ;  and  Frederic  sailed,  the  next  year,  for  Pal- 
estine. But  having  disdained  to  solicit  absolution  for  what 
he  considered  as  no  crime,  the  court  of  Rome  w^as  excited  to 
still  fiercer  indignation  against  this  profanation  of  a  crusade 
by  an  excommunicated  sovereign.  Upon  his  arrival  in  Pal- 
estine, he  received  intelligence  that  the  papal  troops  had 
broken  mto  the  kingdom  of  Naples.     No  one  could  ration- 

1  The  rancor  of  bigoted  Catholics  terandheiressof  Isabella,  wife  of  Conrad, 
agaiust  Frederic  has  hardly  subsided  at  marquis  of  Montferrat.  This  Isabella 
the  present  day.  A  very  moderate  com-  was  the  youngest  daughter  of  Almaric 
mendation  of  him  in  Tiraboschi,  vol.  iv.  or  Amaury,  king  of  Jerusalem,  and  by 
t.  7,  was  not  suffered  to  pass  uncontra-  the  deaths  of  her  brother  Baldwin  IV., 
dieted  by  the  Roman  editor.  And  though  of  her  eldest  sister  Sibilki,  wife  of  Guy  de 
Muratori  shows  quite  enough  prejudice  Lusignan.  and  that  sister's  child  Bald- 
against  that  emperor's  character,  a  fierce  win  V.,  succeeded  to  a  claim  upon  Jeru- 
Roman  bigot,  whose  animadversions  are  salem,  which,  since  the  victories  of 
printed  in  the  17th  volume  of  his  Annals  Saladin,  was  not  very  profitable.  It  is 
(8vo.  edition),  flies  into  paroxysms  of  fury  said  that  the  kings  of  Naples  deduce 
at  everj'  syllable  tiiat  looks  like  modera-  their  title  to  that  sounding  inheritance 
tion.  It  is  well  known  that,  although  from  this  marriage  of  Frederic  (Gian- 
the  public  policy  of  Rome  has  long  dis-  none,  1.  xvi.  c.  2);  but  the  extinction  of 
played  the  pacific  temper  of  weakness,  Frederic's  posterity  must  have,  strictly 
the  thermometer  of  eccle.siastical  senti-  speaking,  put  an  end  to  any  right  derived 
ment  in  that  city  stands  very  nearly  as  from  him  ;  and  Giannone  himself  indi- 
high  as  in  the  thirteenth  century  [1810].  cates  a  better  title  by  the  cession  of 
Giannone,  who  suffered  for  his  boldness,  Maria,  a  princess  of  Antioch,  and  legiti- 
has  drawn  Frederic  II.  very  favorably,  mate  heiress  of  Jerusalem,  to  Charles  of 
perhaps  too  favorably,  in  the  16th  and  Anjou  in  1272.  How  far,  indeed,  this 
J  7th  books  of  the  Istoria  Civile  di  Napoli.  may  have  been  regularly  transmitted  to 

2  The  second  wife  of  Frederic  was  the  present  king  of  Naples,  I  do  not 
lolante,  or  Violante.  daughter  of  .Fohn,  know,  and  am  sure  that  it  is  not  worth 
count  of  Brienue,  by  Maria,  eldest  daugh-  while  to  inquire. 


Italy.  HIS   AVARS   AVITII  THE  LOMBARDS.  373 

ally  have  Mametl  Frc<loric'.  if  he  hatl  quitted  the  Holy  Land 
a<  he  tonnd  it ;  but  he  made  a  treaty  with  the  Sa^aeen^;, 
which,  tlioiijrh  bv  no  means  .<o  (Usadvantajreous  as  under  all 
the  eirenmstances  miLrht  have  been  expected,  served  as  a  pre- 
text for  new  calumnies  airainst  him  in  Europe.  The  charire 
of  irreligion,  eagt-rly  and  successfully  propagated,  he  rejxdlcd 
bv  jiersecuting  edicts  ajrainst  heresy,  that  do  no  great  honor 
to  hi<  inemorv.  and  availed  him  little  at  the  time.  Over  his 
Nea|K>litan  dominions  he  exercised  a  rigorous  government, 
rendered  ])erhaps  necessary  by  the  levity  and  insubordination 
characteristic  of  the  inhabitants,  but  which  tended,  through 
the  artt'ul  re])re>entations  of  Ilonorius  and  Gregory,  to  alarm 
and  alienate  the  Italian  rc|)ulilics. 

A  new  generation    had   risen   up  in    Lombardy  since  the 
peace  of  Constance,  and   the  prerogatives  reserved  ,jj^  „.,,„ 
by  that  treaty  to  the  empire  were  so  seldom  called  »ith  Uie 

i,»  ..  T  1^  1     Lombards. 

into  action,  tliat  lew  cities  were  disposed  to  recol- 
lect their  existence.  They  denominated  themselves  Giielfs  or 
Ghibelin<.  according  to  habit,  and  out  of  their  mutual  oppo- 
sition, but  without  much  reference  to  the  empire.  Those  how- 
ever of  the  former  jjarty,  and  especially  Milan,  retained  their 
antipathv  to  the  iiouse  of  Suabia.  Though  Frederic  II.  was 
entitled,  as  far  a<  e-tabli-lied  usage  can  create  a  rigiit,  to  the 
sovereignty  of  Italy,  the  INIilanese  would  never  acknowledge 
him.  nor  permit  his  coronation  at  ^lon/a,  according  t(j  ancient 
ceremony,  with  the  iron  crown  of  the  Lombard  kings.  The 
pope  fomented,  to  the  utmo-;t  of  liis  power,  tiiis  disaffected 
.spirit,  and  encouraged  the  I>«jmbard  cities  to  renew  their  for- 
mer li-ague.  This,  although  coiiformal)le  to  a  provision  in 
the  treaty  of  Con-tance,  was  maiiife>tly  hostile  to  Freileric, 
and  raav  be  considi'red  as  the  commencement  of  a  second 
content  between  tin-  repuliiicaii  cities  of  Lombardy  and  thi' 
empire.  Hut  tliere  w;i.s  a  >triking  dirt'erence  between  this  and 
th«,'  former  confederacy  against  Frederic  Barbarossa.  In  the 
league  of  1107,  almost  every  city,  forgetting  all  smaller  ani- 
mosities in  tile  great  cause  of  defending  tiie  national  pri\  i- 
legf'S  efuitriltuted  its  share  of  exertion  to  sustain  tiiat  perilous 
conflict ;  aiitl  this  transient  unanimity  in  a  [>eople  so  distracted 
bv  internal  faction  as  tlie  I^oniliards  is  the  surest  witness  to 
the  ju-li<-e  of  tlu'ir  undertaking.  Sixty  y<'ars  af'teiwards, 
their  war  against  the  second  Frederic  had  less  of  provocation 
and  le-s  of  public  spirit.      It  wa<  in  fact  a  party  struggle  of 


374  AKRANGEMENT   OF  Chap.  III.  Part.  I. 

Giielf  and  Ghibelin  cities,  to  wliich  the  names  of  the  cliurch 
and  the  em^iire  gave  more  of  dignity  and  consistence. 

The  republics  of  Italy  in  the   thirteenth  century  were  so 

numerous  and  independent,  and  their  revolutions  so 

me^t°of"        frequent,  that  it  is  a  ditiicult  matter  to  avoid  con- 

Lombard        fusion    in    following    their    history.     It   will  give 

cities.  °  .  .  •>  o   '  ^ 

more  arrangement  to  our  ideas,  and  at  the  same 
time  illustrate  the  changes  that  took  place  in  these  little 
states,  if  we  consider  them  as  divided  into  four  clusters  or 
constellations,  not  indeed  unconnected  one  with  another,  yet 
each  having  its  own  centre  of  motion  and  its  own  boundaries. 
The  tirst  of  these  we  may  suppose  formed  of  the  cities  in 
central  Lombardy,  between  the  Sessia  and  the  Adige,  the 
Alps  and  the  Ligurian  mountains ;  it  comprehends  Milan, 
Cremona,  Pavia,  Brescia,  Bergamo,  Parma,  Piacenza,  JVIan- 
tua,  Lodi,  Alessandria,  and  several  others  less  distinguished. 
These  were  the  original  seats  of  Italian  hberty,  the  great 
movers  in  the  wars  of  the  elder  Frederic.  Milan  was  at  the 
head  of  this  cluster  of  cities,  and  her  influence  gave  an  ascen- 
dency to  the  Guelf  party ;  she  had,  since  the  treaty  of  Con- 
stance, rendered  Lodi  and  Pavia  almost  her  subjects,  and  was 
in  strict  union  with  Brescia  and  Piacenza.  Parma,  howevei", 
and  Cremona,  were  unshaken  defenders  of  the  empire.  In 
the  second  class  we  may  place  the  cities  of  the  march  of  Ve- 
rona, between  the  Adige  and  the  frontiers  of  Germany.  Of 
these  there  were  but  four  worth  mentioning  :  Verona,  Vicenza, 
Padua  and  Treviso.  The  citizens  of  all  the  four  were  in- 
clined to  the  Guelf  interests ;  but  a  powerful  body  of  rui\al 
nobility,  who  had  never  been  compelled,  like  those  upon  the 
Upper  Po,  to  quit  their  fortresses  in  the  hilly  country,  or 
reside  within  the  walls,  attached  themselves  to  the  opposite 
denomination.^  Some  of  them  obtained  very  great  authority 
in  the  civil  feuds  of  these  four  republics ;  and  especially  two 
brothers,  Eccelin  and  Alberic  da  Romano,  of  a  rich  and  dis- 
tinguished family,  known  for  its  devotion  to  the  empire.  By 
extraordinary  vigor  and  decision  of  character,  by  dissimula- 
tion and  breach  of  oaths,  by  the  intimidating  effects  of  almost 
unparalleled  cruelty,  Eccelin  da  Romano  became  after  some 
years  the  absolute  master  of  three  cities,  Padua,  Verona, 
and  Vicenza;    and  the   Guelf   party,  in  consequence,  Avas 

1  Sismondi,  t.  ii.  p.  222. 


Italv. 


LOMBARD  CITIES. 


375 


cntiivlv  siil)Vortt.'tl  hevond  the  Adiiio.  (lurinfr  the  continuance 
of  his  tyraiuiy.^  Anotlu-r  chister  was  voinposcd  of  the  cities 
in  Roniajrna ;  Bologna,  Iniohi,  Faonza,  Ferrara,  and  several 
others.  Of  tliese,  Holojrna  was  far  the  most  powerful,  and, 
as  no  city  was  more  steailily  for  the  interests  of  the  church, 
the  Gnelfs  usually  predominated  in  this  class ;  to  which  also 
the  influence  of  tlie  house  of  Este  not  a  little  contrihuted. 
Modena,  though  not  geographically  within  the  limits  of  this 
division,  may  be  classed  along  with  it  liom  her  constant  wars 
witli  liologmu  A  fourth  class  will  comprehend  the  whole 
of  Tuscany,  separated  almost  entirely  from  the  ])olitics  of 
Lomliardy  and  Komagna.  Florence  headed  the  Guelf  cities 
in  this  pi-ovince,  Pisa  the  Ghihelin.  The  Tuscan  union  was 
form('(l,  as  has  been  said  above,  by  Iimocent  III.,  and  was 
strongly  inclined  to  the  popes ;  but  gradually  the  Ghibehn 
party  ac(piired  its  share  of  intluence ;  and  the  cities  of  Siena, 
Arezzo,  and  Lucca  shifted  their  policy,  according  to  external 
circumstances  or  the  fluctuations  of  their  internal  factions. 
Tile  petty  cities  in  the  region  of  Spuleto  and  Ancona  hardly 
perhaps  deserve  the  name  of  republics ;  and  Genoa  does  not 
reaililv  fall  into  any  of  our  four  classes,  unless  her  wars  with 
Pisa  may  be  thought  to  coimect  her  with  Tuscany.- 

After  several  years  of  transient  hostility  and  precarious 
truce,  the  Guelf  cities  of  Lombardy  engaged  in  a  regular 
and  ])rotracted  war  with  Frederic  II.,  or  more  pro])erly  with 
their  ( ihilielin  adver>aries.  Few  events  of  this  contest  de- 
6er\'e  particular  notice.  Neither  party  ever  obtained  such 
decijiive  advantages  as  had  alternately  belonged  to  Frederic 


'  The  crupltled  of  Eroelin  excited  unl- 
Tenul  hniT»r  in  nii  ni^-  when  inhutnniitty 
townrlii  cm-iiiii-.i  wim  ilh  roniiiiuii  an  fenr 
anil  T^■\  V.I'   it.     It  wiiH   an 

Uiiunl   •  :ill  over  lUilv.  to 

pn'Icn.l   : .  ...1  U-cn  ilfpriv!.-!  of 

thi-lr  e\ei<  or  liinlw  l)y  tin-  Vcnmi-ix! 
tynnt.  Tlii-m  ia  hnnlly  an  in'tanre  in 
y,UT"\)ti\n    iii«t'iry    of    w)   miiiruinary   a 


(fo»«'rttfn^«it 

r» 
u 

cr- 
of 
of 

(iiaii  aii>  •'( 
>  I   liarp    t 
Id    Ihla   Jirloi 


KultaiKtini;     for   nior<-   tlinn 

Tin-  rriinf"  of  FVo'lin  are 

wi-ll    Kutli<'iiiirati-<l   liy    tlio 

-  ' -   rv  writ- 
Mont 
.:  J  volume 

ITtlUl.       Slll- 

_    .    la   inort-  full 


llrr.   fif  Piftlmont 

llK-   hUtory  of   that 


country  seems  to  be  less  elucidated  by 
ancipnt  or  modern  writers  thiin  that  of 
otlier  parts  of  Italy.  It  was  at  this  time 
'liridcd  iM'twctMi  the  counts  of  Savoy 
and  mariiui.sfs  of  Montfrrrat.  But  Asti, 
Cliieri.  and  Turin,  especially  the  two 
former,  appear  to  have  had  a  repuliliean 
fonn  of  noTernment.  They  were,  how- 
ever, not  absolutely  independent.  The 
only  l*iedmont<'.s«  city  that  can  iirojM-rly 
he  conniclered  nn  a  sepanite  state,  in  tlio 
thirteenth  century,  was  Vercelli ;  and 
even  there  the  liishop  siienis  to  have 
piiMK<-iiiief|  a  sort  of  temporal  si>ven-i;fnty . 
I)<-nina.author  of  the  Kivuln/iMni  il'ltvilia, 
first  printed  in  ITli'.l,  lived  to  piihllsh  in 
his  o|.|  a|{e  a  history  of  western    Italy,  or 

Piedmont,  from   wlileh   I    Imve  iflea I  a 

few  fact*.  — Istoriaileir  Italia Oceideiitalc; 
Torino.  IKOlt,  f)  volii.  8vo. 


376  LOMBARD  CITIES.  Chap.  III.  Part  I. 

Barbarossa  and  the  Lombard  confederacy,  during  the  war  of 
the  preceding  century.  A  defeat  of  the  Milanese  by  the 
emperor,  at  Corte  Nuova,  in  1237,  was  balanced  by  his 
unsuccessful  siege  at  Brescia  the  next  year.  The  Pisans 
assisted  Frederic  to  gain  a  great  naval  victory  over  the 
Genoese  fleet,  in  1241;  but  he  was  obliged  to  rise  from  the 
blockade  of  Parma,  which  had  left  the  standard  of  Ghibelin- 
ism,  in  1248.  Ultimately,  however,  the  strength  of  the 
house  of  Suabia  was  exhausted  by  so  tedious  a  struggle ;  the 
Ghibelins  of  Italy  had  their  vicissitudes  of  success  ;  but  their 
country,  and  even  themselves,  lost  more  and  more  of  the 
ancient  connection  with  Germany. 

In  this  resistance  to  Frederic  11.  the  Lombards  were  much 
indebted  to  the  constant  support  of  Gregory  IX.  and  his 
successor  Innocent  IV. ;  and  the  Guelf,  or  the  church  party, 
were  used  as  synonymous  terms.  These  pontiffs  bore  an 
unquenchable  hatred  to  the  house  of  Suabia.  No  concessions 
mitigated  their  animosity ;  no  reconciliation  was  sincere. 
Whatever  faults  may  be  imputed  to  Frederic,  it  is  impossible 
for  any  one,  not  blindly  devoted  to  the  court  of  Rome,  to 
deny  that  he  was  iniquitously  proscribed  by  her  unprincipled 
ambition.  His  real  crime  was  the  inheritance  of  his  ances- 
tors, and  the  name  of  the  house  of  Suabia.  In  1239  he 
was  excommunicated  by  Gregory  IX.  To  this  he  was  tol- 
erably accustomed  by  former  experience ;  but  the  sentence 
was  attended  by  an  absolution  of  his  subjects  from  their 
allegiance,  and  a  formal  deposition.  These  sentences  were 
not  very  effective  upon  men  of  vigorous  minds,  or  upon  those 
whose  passions  were  engaged  in  their  cause ;  but  they  influ- 
enced both  those  who  feared  the  threatenings  of  the  clergy 
and  those  who  wavered  already  as  to  their  line  of  political 
conduct.  In  the  fluctuating  state  of  Lombardy  the  excom- 
munication of  Frederic  undermined  his  interests  even  in 
cities  like  Parma,  that  had  been  friendly,  and  seemed  to 
identify  the  cause  of  his  enemies  with  that  of  religion  —  a 
prejudice  artfully  fomented  by  means  of  calumnies  propagated 
against  himself,  and  which  the  conduct  of  such  leading 
Ghibelins  as  Eccelin,  who  lived  in  an  open  defiance  of  God 
and  man,  did  not  contribute  to  lessen.  In  1240,  Gregory 
proceeded  to  publish  a  crusade  against  Frederic,  as  if  he  had 
been  an  open  enemy  to  religion ;  which  he  revenged  by 
putting  to  death  all  the  prisoners  he  made  who  wore  the 


Italy.  CODNX'IL  Ul-    LYONS.  377 

cross.     There  wa.s  one  thiiifr  wantiiiLT  to  make  tlie  exinilsion 
of  the  emperor  from  the  Christian  eommonweahh  mure  cum- 
plete.     Gregory  IX.  accordingly  projected,  and  Innocent  IV 
carried   into  effect,  the   convocation  of   a    general    council. 
Thi<  was  held  at  Lyon.s,  an  imperial  city,  but  over  c^,„npii  ^f 
whicii  Freileric  could  no  longer  retain  his  suprem-  ''•>""*•. 
acy.     In   this  assembly,  where  one  hundred  and  •    •  -    • 
forty  prelates  apiu-ared'.  the  (piestion  whether  Frederic  ought 
to  be  dei>osed  was  soiennd}"  discussed ;  he  submitted  to  de- 
fend himself  by  his  advocates:  and  the  pope  in  the  presence, 
though  without  formally  collecting  the  suffrages  of  the  council, 
pronounced  a  sentence,  by  which  Frederic's  excommunica- 
tion was  ren(>wed.  the  empire  and  all  his  kingdoms  taken 
away,  and  his  subjects  absolved  Irom  their  fidelity.     This  is 
the  most  j>oin[)ous  act  of  usurpation  in  all  the  records  of  the 
church  of    Kome;  and  the   tacit   ajtiiroliration  of  a  general 
council  seemed  to  incorporate  the  pretended  right  of  deposing 
kings,  which  might  have  pjissed  as  a  mad  vaunt  of  Ciregory 
VII.  and  his  successors,  with  the  estaltlished  I'aith  of  Chris- 
tendom. 

U|K)n  tlie  death  of  Frederic  II.  in  12rjO.  he  left  to  his  son 
Conrad  a  content  to  maintain  for  every  part  of  his  inheritance, 
as  well  as  for  the  imiicrial  crown.      IJut  the  vigor 

-,     ,       ,  i>  o       1  •  n  1  Conrad  IV. 

of  the  house  ot  buabia  was  gone ;  Conratl  was  re- 
duee<l  to  fight  for  the  king(h)m  of  Naples,  the  only  succession 
which  he  could  hope  to  secure  against  the  troops  of  Innocent 
IV.,  who  still  pursueil  his  family  witli  implacable  hatred,  and 
claimed  that  kingdom  jts  forfeited  to  its  feudal  superior,  the 
IIolv  Si'e,  Al'li-r  Conrad's  premature  death,  which  happen- 
ed in  12.>1,  the  throne  was  filled  by  his  illegitimate  brother 
Manfred,  who  retained  it  by  his  bravery  and  address,  in  de- 
.spite  of  the  popes,  till  they  were  compelled  to  Call  in  the 
assistance  of  a  more  powerful  arm. 

The  death  of  Conrad  brings  to  a  termination  that  period 
in  Italian  hi>tory  which  we  have  described  as  nearly  coex- 
tensive with  the  greatness  of  the  house  of  Sual»ia.  It  is 
p<;rhaps  u|K)n  the  whole  the  most  honorable  to  Italv  ;  thai  in 
wliich  she  disphiyed  the  most  of  national  energy  and  patriot- 
ism. A  Florentine  or  Venetian  may  dwell  with  pleasure 
upon  later  time»,  but  a  Lomliard  will  east  bark  his  eye  across 
the  de-ert  of  centuries,  till  it  rep(»ses  on  the  Held  <tf  Legnano. 
Great  changes  followe<l  in  the  foreign  and  internal  iiolicy,  in 


378     CAUSES  OF  SUCCESS  OF  LOMBARDY.    Chap.  III.  Part  I. 

the  moral  and  military  character  of  Italy.  But  before  we  de- 
scend to  the  next  period,  it  will  be  necessary  to  remark  some 
material  circumstances  in  that  which  has  just  passed  under 
our  review. 

The  successful  resistance  of  the  Lombard  cities  to  such 
Causes  of  the  pi"i»ces  as  botli  the  Frederics  must  astonish  a 
success  of  reader  who  brings  to  the  story  of  these  middle 
Lombardy.  notions  derived  from  modern    times.      But 

when  we  consider  not  only  the  ineffectual  control  which 
could  be  exerted  over  a  feudal  army,  bound  only  to  a  short 
term  of  service,  and  reluctantly  kept  in  the  field  at  its  own 
cost,  but  the  peculiar  distrust  and  disaffection  with  which 
many  German  princes  regarded  the  house  of  Suabia,  less 
reason  will  appear  for  surprise.  Nor  did  the  kingdom  of 
Naples,  almost  always  in  agitation,  yield  any  material  aid  to 
the  second  Fredei*ic.  The  main  cause,  however,  of  that 
triumph  which  attended  Lombardy  was  the  intrinsic  energy 
of  a  free  government.  From  the  eleventh  century,  when  the 
cities  became  virtually  republican,  they  put  out  those  vigor- 
ous shoots  which  are  the  growth  of  freedom  alone.  Their 
domestic  feuds,  their  mutual  wars,  the  fierce  assaults  of  their 
national  enemies,  checked  not  their  strength,  their  wealth,  or 
their  population ;  but  rather  as  the  limbs  are  nerved  by 
labor  and  hardship,  the  republics  of  Italy  grew  in  vigor  and 
courage  through  the  conflicts  they  sustained.  If  we  but  re- 
member what  savage  license  prevailed  during  the  ages  that 
preceded  their  rise,  the  rapine  of  public  robbers,  or  of  feudal 
nobles  little  differing  from  robbers,  the  contempt  of  industri- 
ous arts,  the  inadequacy  of  penal  laws  and  the  impossibility 
of  carrying  them  into  effect,  we  shall  form  some  notion  of 
the  change  which  was  wrought  in  the  condition  of  Italy  by 
the  growth  of  its  cities.  In  comparison  with  the  blessings 
of  industry  protected,  injustice  controlled,  emulation  awak- 
ened, the  disorders  which  ruffled  their  surface  appear  slight 
and  momentary.  I  speak  only  of  this  first  stage  of  their  in- 
dependence, and  chiefly  of  the  twelfth  century,  before  those 
civil  dissensions  had  reached  their  height,  by  which  the  glory 
and  prosperity  of  Lombardy  were  soon  to  be  subverted. 

We  have  few  authentic  testimonies  as  to  the  domestic  im- 
provement of  the  free  Italian  cities,  while  they  still  deserve 
the  name.  But  we  may  perceive  by  history  that  their  power 
and  population,  according  to  their  extent  of  territory,  were 


Italy.  LOMBAUD  CITIES.  o7l) 

alino>t  incredible.  In  Galvaneus  Flanima,  a  ^Milanese 
writer,  we  liiul  a  eurious  statistieal  account  of  that  city  in 
12.S.S,  wliicli.  though  of  a  date  al)out  thirty  years  after  its 
liberties  liad  been  overthrown  by  usuritation.  must  l)e  con- 
sidered as  iinplyinjr  a  hitih  degree  of  previous  adxanci  nicnt, 
even  if  we  nialce  allowance,  a.s  j>robably  we  shoukl,  for  some 
exaggeration.  Tiie  inhabitant.-*  are  reckoned  at  200,000  ;  the 
private  houses  13.000  ;  the  nol)ility  alone  dweh  in  sixty 
streets;  S,U00  gentlemen  or  heavy  cavalry  (milites)  might 
be  nui-t«'red  from  the  city  and  its  district,  and  240,000  men 
capable  of  arms :  a  force  suflicient,  the  writer  observes,  to 
erush  all  the  Saracens.  There  wore  in  Mihui  six  hundred 
notaries,  two  hundred  physicians,  eiglity  sciioolmasler.-;,  and 
fiftv  transcribers  of  manuscripts.  In  the  district  were  one 
hundred  and  tifty  castles  with  adjoining  villages.  Such  was 
the  state  of  Milan,  Flamma  concludes,  in  1288  ;  it  is  not  for 
me  to  sav  whether  it  lias  gained  or  lost  ground  since  that 
time.^  At  iliis  period  tlie  territory  of  Milan  was  not  per- 
haps mun-  extensive  than  the  county  of  Sin-rey ;  it  was 
bounded  at  a  little  distance,  on  almost  every  side,  by  Lodi, 
or  Pavia,  or  Bergamo,  or  Como.  It  is  possible,  however, 
that  Klanuna  may  have  meant  to  include  some  of  the.se  as 
dependencies  of  Milan,  though  not  strictly  united  with  it. 
How  tl<juri.«hing  must  the  state  of  cultivation  have  been  in 
sucli  a  coimtry,  which  not  only  drew  no  supplies  from  any 
foreign  land,  but  exported  ])art  of  her  own  produce!  It  was 
in  the  liest  agi'  of  their  liberties,  inunediately  after  the  battle 
of  Legnano,  that  the  3Iilane.se  commenced  the  great  canal 
whi<h  conducts  the  waters  of  the  Tesino  to  their  capital,  a 
work  very  extraonlinary  for  tiiat  time.  During  the  same 
period  the  cities  gave  proofs  of  internal  prosperity  that  in 
m;uiv  in-tances  have  descended  to  our  own  observation  in 
the  .soliditv  and  nuignificenee  of  their  architecture.  Eccle- 
siastical structures  were  |)erhaps  more  splendid  in  France 
an<l  Knghmd ;  but  neither  country  could  pretend  to  match 

I  MurmUiri.  .Script.  Hrrum  ItAllo.  t.  xl.  work    to    the    jimiseB    of   A/.zo.   assprti 

T'    -  ' '   ^' V  IU.PII1  to  thiTfln,  that  he  IukI   Rn-iitly    iiiiprovfa 

i  ■•■•I  III  liln  till'  hciiiitv  mill  coiivciiiciice  of  tin-  city  ; 

r  Vft    an  tlioiiKli    Un-wiii.     Crcmoiiii.    hikI     other 

.•n  contiiiuailv    BilvanrinK  in  plnccK  tmil  diM-linifil.   A/JiritiK.  too,  n  writiT 

;  hnl    it»t  vrt  cxiMTiriirfil  miy  of  thi'  Kniiic  hk'"'.   Iimkcfi  n  similar  p')iri'- 

t  >i.  I  miiiiot  hiiRi.'iiiP  wiiUitioii.     .Script.   Iter.   Hal.  t.  .ivl.   \>\>. 

•  aj- :  nn.l  the  mill"  314.  .')I7.     Of  Lii.hiiio  Vi»(oiiti  lir  mm*.^  : 

i  Ml.  »ii..   i.   !i  .-n-nt  Hntttrrvr  of  till-  Stntiiin  Miiiiioliiiii  n-iiiti-tfravit  in  taiitiiiii, 

\  1    ml,  BtKl  hoji  .IcIirnUnJ  a  particular  ijuo.!  iioii  rlvlux.  b.-J  provliiclu  viJi-lwitur. 


380  LOMBAKD  CITIES.  Chap.  III.  Part  I. 

the  palaces  and  public  buildings,  the  streets  tlagged  with 
stone,  the  bridges  of  the  same  material,  or  the  commodious 
private  houses  of  Italy.-^ 

The  courage  of  these  cities  was  wrought  sometimes  to  a 
tone  of  insolent  defiance  through  the  security  inspired  by 
their  means  of  defence.  From  the  time  of  the  Romans  to 
that  when  the  use  of  gunpowder  came  to  prevail,  little 
change  was  made,  or  pei'haps  could  be  made,  in  that  part  of 
military  science  which  relates  to  the  attack  and  defence  of 
fortified  j)laces.  We  find  precisely  the  same  engines  of 
offence ;  the  cumbrous  towers,  from  which  arrows  wex'e  shot 
at  the  besieged,  the  machines  from  which  stones  were  dis- 
charged, the  battering-rams  which  assailed  the  walls,  and 
the  basket-work  covering  (the  vinea  or  testudo  of  the  an- 
cients, and  the  gattus  or  chat-chateil  of  the  middle  ages) 
under  which  those  who  pushed  the  battering  engines  were 
protected  from  the  enemy.  On  the  other  hand,  a  city  was 
fortified  with  a  strong  wall  of  brick  or  marble,  with  towers 
raised  upon  it  at  intervals,  and  a  deep  moat  in  front.  Some- 
times the  antemural  or  bai-bacan  was  added  ;  a  rampart  of 
less  height,  which  impeded  the  approach  of  the  hostile  en- 
gines. The  gates  were  guarded  with  a  portcullis  ;  an  inven- 
tion which,  as  well  as  the  barbacan,  was  borrowed  from  the 
Saracens.^  With  such  advantages  for  defence,  a  numei-ous 
and  intrepid  body  of  burghers  might  not  unreasonably  stand 
at  bay  against  a  powerful  army ;  and  as  the  consequences  of 
capture  were  most  terrible,  Avhile  resistance  was  seldom 
hopeless,  we  cannot  wonder  at  the  desparate  bravery  of  so 
many  besieged  towns.  Indeed  it  seldom  happened  that  one 
of  considerable  size  was  taken,  except  by  famine  or  treach- 
ery. Tortona  did  not  submit  to  Frederic  Barbarossa  till  the 
besiegers  had  corrupted  with  sulphur  the  only  fountain  that 
supplied  the  citizens ;  nor  Crema  till  her  walls  were  over- 
topped by  the  battering  engines.  Ancona  held  out  a  noble 
example  of  sustaining  the  pressure  of  extreme  famine. 
Brescia  tried  all  the  resources  of  a  skilful  engineer  against 
the  second  Frederic ;  and  swerved  not  from  her  steadiness, 
when  that  prince,  imitating  an  atrocious  precedent  of  his 
grandfather  at  the  siege  of    Crema,  exposed  his  prisoners 

1  Sismondi,  t.  iv.  p.  176;  Tirabosehi,  imleeJ,  applicable  to  a  period  rather  later 

t.  iv.  p.  426.     See  also  tlie  observations  than  that  of  her  free  republics, 
of  Denina   on   the  population  and  ajiri-        2  JIuratori,  Antiquit.  Ital.  Dissert.  26. 
culture  of  Italy,  1.  xiv.  c.  9,  10,  chiefly, 


Italy.  THEIR  INTERNAL  GOVERNMENT.  381 

upon  l\is  l)att(M-iu<:  oiiirino?  to  the  atones  that  were  hurled  by 
their  tellow-eiti/.ens  upon  the  walls.' 

Of  the  {.^ovenunent  whieh  existed  in  the  republics  of  Italy 
during  the  twt'ltth  and  thirteenth  centuries,  no  q,,,^,jj, 
detinite  sketch  can  be  traced.  The  chroniclers  of  i"t<'rnni 
those  times  are  few  and  jejune ;  and,  as  is  usual  s»^"^'"'>«"en  , 
with  ctiutemporaries.  rather  intimate  than  describe  the  civil 
polity  of  their  respective  countries.  It  would  indeed  be  a 
weary  task,  if  it  were  even  possible,  to  delineate  the  consti- 
tutions of  thirty  or  forty  little  states  which  were  in  perpetual 
tlucluation.  The  mairistrates  elected  in  almost  all  of  them, 
wiii-n  they  first  ]>eji:an  to  shake  off  the  juriMliction  of  their 
count  or  l)isho]).  were  styled  consuls  ;  a  word  very  expressive 
to  an  Italian  ear,  since,  in  the  <larkest  a^res,  tradition  must 
have  preserved  some  actpiaintance  with  the  republican  gov- 
ermnent  of  Rome.*  The  consuls  were  always  annual ;  and 
their  otlice  comprehended  the  command  of  the  national  mili- 
tia in  war,  as  well  as  the  administration  of  justice  and  pre- 
servation (»f  public  order;  but  their  number  was  various; 
two.  four,  six,  or  even  twelve.  In  their  legislative  and  de- 
liberative councils  the  Lombards  still  copied  the  Roman  con- 
stitution, or  perhaps  tell  naturally  into  the  form  most  ealcu- 
hited  to  unite  sound  discretion  with  the  exercise  of  popular 
sovereignty.  A  council  of  trust  and  .secrecy  (della  credenza) 
wa<  comi>osed  of  a  small  numl)er  of  persons,  who  took  the 
management  of  pulilic  atlairs.  and  may  be  called  the  minis- 
ters of  the  stiite.  But  the  decision  up(»n  matters  of  general 
importance,  treaties  of  alliance  <ir  declarations  of  war,  the 
choice  of  con>uls,  or  amlia^sadors,  belonged  to  the  general 
council.  This  appear-  not  to  have  been  uniformly  con.stitut- 
ed  in  every  city  ;  and  according  to  its  comj)osition  the  gov- 
eniment  was  more  or  less  democrat ical.  An  ultimate  .sover- 
••igiily,  lioweviT,  wa.H  reserved  to  the  ma-ss  of  the  j)eople  ; 
and  a  parliament  or  general  }t«.sembly  was  held  to  deliberate 
on  any  change  in  the  form  of  constitution.'' 

AU)Ut  the  end  of  the  twelfth  centiu'y  a  new  and  singular 
species  of  inagist racy  was  introduced  into  the  Lombard  cities. 

•  Sw   tlir*«>  ■lnP-«  In  the  ioconJ  an>l  IilmKcir  publicorum  offlrinruin  pnrHcop* 

Ui''-'    •■  ' •     -' !i        TImt   lit  «'t  cortJi//i(m  (■pi.KtolHriiiii 'lii'tafiir.   Si-ript. 

Ai  '.I.!  Mjth  rp-  I{<T.  Itjil.  t.  V.  p.  4Sii.     Tlii-  U.  I  l>ilirvi', 

ni  ■  ■ml  liiU-runt-  the  ciirlii'st  iiiriitiini  of  tlnxf  iimjfi-lniti-.t. 

I"  Munieorl.  Aiiimli  <!'  ItJilia.  A.I'.  llOT. 

"UngFr.  whoM>  hliiinry        ^  .Munitori.    DU-ifrt.  -10  una  U.     Sb- 

of  Miub  ixU'uOs  froni  lOM  to  IISJ,  coll*  nionat,  t.  i.  p.  mni. 


382  LOMBARD  CITIES.  Chap.  III.  Part  I. 

During  the  tyranny  of  Frederic  I.  he  had  appointed  officers 
of  his  own,  called  podestas,  instead  of  the  elective  consuls. 
It  is  remarkable  that  this  memorial  of  despotic  power  should 
not  have  excited  insuperable  alarm  and  disgust  in  the  free 
republics.  But,  on  the  contrary,  they  almost  univei'sally, 
after  the  peace  of  Constance,  revived  an  office  which  had 
been  abrogated  when  they  first  rose  in  rebellion  against 
Frederic.  From  experience,  as  we  must  presume,  of  the  par- 
tiality which  their  domestic  factions  carried  into  the  adminis- 
tration of  justice,  it  became  a  general  practice  to  elect,  by 
the  name  of  podesta,  a  citizen  of  some  neighboring  state  as 
their  general,  their  criminal  judge,  and  preserver  of  the 
peace.  The  last  duty  was  frequently  arduous,  and  requir- 
ed a  vigorous  as  well  as  an  upright  magistrate.  Offences 
against  the  laws  and  security  of  the  commonwealth  were 
during  the  middle  ages  as  often,  perhaps  more  often,  com- 
mitted by  the  rich  and  powerful  than  by  the  inferior  class 
of  society.  Rude  and  licentious  manners,  family  feuds  and 
private  revenge,  or  the  mere  insolence  of  strength,  rendered 
the  execution  of  criminal  justice  practically  and  in  every 
day's  experience,  what  is  now  little  required,  a  necessary 
protection  to  the  poor  against  oppression.  The  sentence  of 
a  magistrate  against  a  powerful  offender  was  not  pronounced 
without  danger  of  tumult ;  it  was  seldom  executed  without 
force.  A  convicted  criminal  was  not,  as  at  present,  the 
stricken  deer  of  society,  whose  disgrace  his  kindred  shrink 
from  participating,  and  whose  memory  they  strive  to  forget. 
Imputing  his  sentence  to  iniquity,  or  glorying  in  an  act  which 
the  laws  of  his  fellow-citizens,  but  not  their  sentiments,  con- 
demned, he  stood  upon  his  defence  amidst  a  circle  of  friends. 
The  law  was  to  be  enforced  not  against  an  individual,  but  a 
family  —  not  against  a  family,  but  a  faction  —  not  perhaps 
against  a  local  faction,  but  the  whole  Guelf  or  Ghibelin 
name,  which  might  become  interested  in  the  quarrel.  The 
podesta  was  to  arm  the  republic  against  her  refractory  citi- 
zen ;  his  house  was  to  be  besieged  and  razed  to  the  ground,  his 
defenders  to  be  quelled  by  violence :  and  thus  the  people, 
become  familiar  with  outrage  and  homicide  under  the  com- 
mand of  their  magistrates,  were  more  disposed  to  repeat 
such  scenes  at  the  instigation  of  their  passions.^ 

1  Sismondi,  t.  iii.  p.  258;  from  whom    trated  by  Villani's  history  of  Florence, 
the  substance  of  these  observations  is    and  Stella's  annals  of  Genoa, 
borrowed.     They  may  be  copiously  illus- 


Italy.  THEIR   DISSENSIONS.  383 

The  j»odt'sta  wtis  sometimes  chosen  in  a  general  assembly, 
sometimes  by  a  select  number  of  citizens.  His  office  was 
annual,  though  prolonged  in  peculiar  emergencies.  lie  was 
invariably  a  man  of  noble  family,  even  in  those  cities  which 
exchuleil  their  own  nobility  from  any  share  in  the  govern- 
ment. He  received  a  lixed  salary,  and  was  compelled  to 
remain  in  the  city  after  tlie  exi)iration  of  his  office  for  the 
purpose  of  answering  such  charges  as  might  be  aiUhiced 
against  his  conduct.  He  could  neither  marry  a  native  of 
the  city,  nor  have  any  relation  resident  within  the  district, 
nor  even,  so  great  was  tlieir  jealousy,  eat  or  drink  in  the 
house  of  ixny  chizen.  The  authority  of  these  foreign  magis- 
trates wtvs  not  by  any  means  alike  in  all  cities.  In  some  he 
seems  to  have  superseded  the  consuls,  and  commanded  the 
armies  in  war.  In  others,  as  Mihui  and  Florence,  Ids  au- 
thority was  merely  judicial.  We  lind  in  some  of  the  old 
annals  the  years  headed  liy  the  names  of  the  podestas,  as  by 
those  of  the  consuls  in  the  history  of  Rome.^ 

The  effects  of  the  evil  spirit  of  discord  that  had  so  fatally 
breathed  upon  the  republics  of  Lombardy  Avere  by  and  aissen- 
no  means  c<infined  to  national  interests,  or  to  the  *'°°^' 
grand  distinctidn  of  (Jiielf  and  Gliibelin.  Dissensions  glow- 
ed in  the  heart  of  every  city,  and  as  the  danger  of  foreign 
war  became  distant,  these  grew  jnore  fierce  and  uiiai)peasa- 
ble.  The  feudal  system  had  been  establislied  upon  the  prin- 
ciple of  territorial  aristocracy;  it  maintained  the  authority, 
it  encouraged  the  pride  of  rank.  Hence,  when  the  rural 
nobility  were  compelled  to  take  uj)  tiieir  residence  in  cities, 
thev  preserved  the  a-cendency  of  birth  and  riches.  From 
the  natural  respect  wliich  is  shown  to  these  advantages,  all 
offices  of  trust  and  command  were  shared  amongst  them;  it 
is  not  material  whether  this  were  by  j)ositive  right  or  con- 
tinual usage.  A  limited  aristocracy  of  this  description, 
where  the  inferior  citizens  ])osse.ss  the  riglit  of  selecting 
their  magistrates  by  free  suttrage  from  a  numerous  body  of 
nol)h-s  is  not  among  the  worst  forms  of  government,  and 
affords  nri  contem[)tible  security  against  oppression  and  an- 
archv.  This  regimen  apjiears  to  liave  pre\ailed  in  most  of 
the  Lombard  citie-  during  the  eleventli  and  twelflli  centuries ; 
tliough,  in  so  great  u  deficiency  of  authentic  materials,  it 

iMuratori,  DUwrt.  40. 


384  LOMBAED  CITIES.  Chap,  III.  Part  I. 

would  be  too  peremptory  to  assert  this  as  an  unequivocal 
truth.  Tiiere  is  one  very  early  instance,  in  the  year  1041, 
of  a  civil  war  at  Milan  between  the  capitanei,  or  vassals  of 
the  empire,  and  the  plebeian  burgesses,  which  was  appeased 
by  the  mediation  of  Henry  III.  This  is  asci'ibed  to  the  ill 
treatment  which  the  latter  experienced  —  as  was  usual  in- 
deed in  all  parts  of  Europe,  but  which  was  endured  with 
inevitable  submission  everywhere  else.  In  this  civil  war, 
which  lasted  three  years,  the  nobility  were  obliged  to  leave 
Milan,  and  carry  on  the  contest  in  the  adjacent  plains ;  and 
one  of  their  class,  by  name  Lanzon,  whether  moved  by  am- 
bition, or  by  virtuous  indignation  against  tyranny,  put  him- 
self at  the  head  of  the  people.-^ 

From  this  time  we  scarcely  find  any  mention  of  dissen- 
sions among  the  two  orders  till  after  the  peace  of  Constance  — 
a  proof,  however  defective  the  contemporary  annals  may  be, 
that  such  disturbances  had  neither  been  frequent  nor  serious. 
A  schism  between  the  nobles  and  people  is  noticed  to  have 
occurred  at  Faenza  in  1185.  A  serious  civil  war  of  some 
duration  broke  out  between  them  at  Brescia  in  1200.  From 
this  time  mutual  jealousies  interru^jted  the  domestic  tranquil- 
lity of  other  cities,  but  it  is  about  1220  that  they  appear  to 
have  taken  a  decided  aspect  of  civil  war ;  within  a  few  years 
of  that  epoch  the  question  of  aristocratical  or  popular  com- 
mand was  tried  by  arms  in  Milan,  Piacenza,  Modena,  Cremo- 
na, and  Bologna.^ 

It  would  be  in  vain  to  enter  upon  the  merits  of  these  feuds, 
which  the  meagre  historians  of  the  time  are  seldom  much 
disposed  to  elucidate,  and  which  they  saw  with  their  own 
prejudices.  A  writer  of  the  present  age  would  show  little 
philojpophy  if  he  were  to  heat  his  passions  by  the  reflection, 
as  it  were,  of  those  forgotten  animosities,  and  aggravate,  like 
a  partinl  contemporary,  the  failings  of  one  or  another  faction. 
We  have  no  need  of  positive  testimony  to  acquaint  us  with 
the  general  tenor  of  their  history.  We  know  that  a  nobility 
is  always  insolent,  that  a  populace  is  always  intemperate ;  and 
may  safely  presume  that  the  former  began,  as  the  latter  end- 
ed, by  injustice  and  abuse  of  power.  At  one  time  the  aris- 
tocracy, not  content  with  seeing  the  annual  magistrates  selected 

1  Landulfus,  Hist.  Mediolan.  in  Script.        2  Sismondi,   t.   ii.   p.   444  ;    Muratori, 
Rerum  Ital.  t.  iv.  p.  86;  Muratori,  Di.s-    Anuali  d'  Italia,  a.d.  1185,  &c. 
sert.  52;  Annali  d'  Italia,  a.d.  1041;  ."  t. 
Marc,  t.  iii.  p.  94. 


Italy.  THEIR  DISSENSIONS.  385 

from  tlii'ir  bodv,  would  eiuloavor  by  usurpation  to  cxchule 
the  bulk  of  the  citizL-ns  from  sutVrage.  At  another,  the  nu-r- 
chants,  gi-own  proud  by  riches,  and  confident  of  their  strength, 
would  aim  at  obtaininfr  the  honors  of  the  state,  which  had 
been  reserved  to  the  nobility.  This  is  the  inevitable  conse- 
quence of  commercial  wealth,  and  indeed  of  freedom  and 
social  onler,  which  are  the  parents  of  wealth.  There  is  in 
the  progress  of  civilization  a  terra  at  which  exclusive  privi- 
leges must  be  relaxed,  or  the  possessors  must  perish  along 
Avith  them.  In  one  or  two  cities  a  temporary  compromise 
was  made  through  the  intervention  of  the  pope,  whereby  of- 
lices  of  public  trust,  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest,  were  di- 
vided, in  equal  proportions,  or  otherwise,  between  the  nobles 
and  the  people.  This  also  is  no  bad  expedient,  and  proved 
singuhirly  eilicacious  in  appeasing  the  dissensions  of  ancient 
Rome. 

There  is,  however,  a  natural  preponderance  in  the  popular 
scale,  which,  in  a  fair  trial,  invariably  gains  on  that  of  the 
less  numerous  class.  The  artisans,  who  composed  the  bulk 
of  the  iHtpulation,  were  arranged  in  companies  according  to 
their  occupations.  Sometimes,  as  at  ^lilan,  they  formed  sep- 
arate associations,  with  ruh-s  for  their  internal  government.^ 
The  clubs,  called  at  Milan  la  Motta  and  la  Credenza,  obtained 
a  degree  of  weight  not  at  all  sur{)rising  to  those  who  consider 
the  spirit  of  mutual  attachment  which  belongs  to  such  frater- 
nities; and  we  >liall  see  a  more  striking  instance  of  this  here- 
after in  the  republic  of  Florence.  To  so  formidable  and 
organized  a  democracy  the  nobles  opposed  their  niunerous 
families,  the  generous  spirit  that  belongs  to  high  birth,  tiie  in- 
fluence of  wealth  and  established  name.  The  memljcrs  of 
each  distinguishe<l  family  apjiear  to  have  lived  in  the  same 
street ;  their  hous<'S  were  fortified  with  square  massive  towers 
of  commanding  height,  and  wore  the  semblance  of  castles 
within  the  walls  of  a  city.  Brancaleon,  the  famous  senator 
of  Koine.  cle<troy<"<l  one  hundred  and  forty  of  these  domestic 
entrenchments,  which  were  constantly  serving  the  purpose  of 
civil  broils  juid  outrage.  Expelled,  as  frequently  happened, 
frrtm  the  city,  it  was  in  the  |)Ower  of  the  nobles  to  avail  tln'in- 
M'lvca  of  their  superiority  in  the  use  of  cavalry,  and  to  lay 
waste  the  district,  till  weariness  of  an  unprofitable  contention 

I  Muratori,  Dinwrt.  62;  Biimondi,  t.  111.  p.  2G2. 

vou  I.  ib 


386  LOMBARD  CITIES.  Chap.  III.  Part  I. 

reduced  tlie  citizens  to  terms  of  compromise.  But  when  all 
these  resources  wei'e  ineiFectual,  they  were  tempted  or  forced 
to  sacrifice  the  pubhc  liberty  to  their  own  welfare,  and  lent 
their  aid  to  a  foreign  master  or  a  domestic  usurper. 

In  all  these  scenes  of  turbulence,  whether  the  contest  was 
between  the  nobles  and  people  or  the  Guelf  or  Ghibehn  fac- 
tions, no  mercy  was  shown  by  the  conquerors.  The  van- 
quished lost  their  homes  and  fortunes,  and,  retiring  to  other 
cities  of  their  own  party,  waited  for  the  opportunity  of  revenge. 
In  a  popular  tumult  the  houses  of  the  beaten  side  were  fre- 
quently levelled  to  the  ground  —  not  perhaps  from  a  sort  of 
senseless  fury,  which  Muratori  inveighs  against,  but  on  ac- 
count of  the  injury  which  these  fortified  houses  inflicted  upon 
the  lower  citizens.  The  most  deadly  hatred  is  tliat  which 
men  exasperated  by  proscription  and  forfeiture  bear  to  their 
country ;  nor  have  we  need  to  ask  any  other  cause  for  the 
calamities  of  Italy  than  the  bitterness  with  which  an  unsuc- 
cessful faction  was  thus  pursued  into  banishment.  When 
the  Ghibelins  were  returning  to  Florence,  after  a  defeat  given 
to  the  prevailing  party  in  1260,  it  was  proposed  among  them 
to  demolish  the  city  itself  which  had  cast  them  out ;  and,  but 
for  the  persuasion  of  one  man,  Farinata  degl'  Uberti,  their 
revenge  would  have  thus  extinguished  all  patriotism.^  It  is 
to  this  that  we  must  ascribe  their  proneness  to  call  in  assist- 
ance from  every  side,  and  to  invite  any  servitude  for  the  sake 
of  retaliating  upon  their  adversaries.  The  simple  love  of 
public  liberty  is  in  general,  I  fear,  too  abstract  a  passion  to 
glow  warmly  in  the  human  breast ;  and  though  often  in- 
vigorated as  well  as  determined  by  personal  animosities 
and  predilections,  is  as  frequently  extinguished  by  the  same 
cause. 

Independently  of  the  two  leading  differences  which  embattled 
the  citizens  of  an  Italian  state,  their  form  of  government  and 
their  relation  to  the  empire,  there  were  others  more  contemp- 
tible though  not  less  mischievous.  In  every  city  the  quarrels 
of  private  families  became  the  foundation  of  general  schism, 
sedition,  and  prosci'iption.  Sometimes  these  blended  them- 
selves with  the  grand  distinctions  of  Guelf  and  Ghibehn ; 

I  (J.  Villani,   1.  vi.   c.  82.     Sismondi.  conversation  of  the  poet  with  Farinata, 

I  cannot  forjrive  Dante  for  placiag  this  cant.  10,  is  very  fine,  and  illustrative  of 

patriot  tri  1"  anime  piu  nere,  in  one  of  Florentine  history, 
the  worst  regions  of  his  Inferno.     The 


Italy.  CIVIL  DISSENSIONS.  387 

sometimes  thev  were  more  nakeilly  conspicuous.  This  may 
be  illustnitcil  liy  one  or  two  prominent  e.xuniples.  Imikla  de' 
Liiuiberia/zi,  a  noble  young  buly  at  Bologna,  was  .surprised 
by  her  bi-othei-s  in  a  .secret  interview  with  Boniface  Gieremei, 
who'Je  family  had  long  beiMi  sejiaratcd  by  the  most  inveterate 
enmity  from  her  own.  She  had  just  time  to  escape,  while 
the  Lambertazzi  despatched  her  lover  with  their  poisoned 
djiggcrs.  On  her  return  she  found  his  body  still  warm,  and 
a  faint  hoi)e  suggested  the  remedy  of  sucking  the  venom 
from  his  wounds.  But  it  only  commimicated  itself  to  her 
own  veins,  and  they  were  found  by  her  attendants  stretched 
lifeless  by  each  other's  side.  So  cruel  an  outrage  wrought 
the  Gieremei  to  madness ;  they  formed  alliances  with  some 
neighboring  republics  ;  the  Lmnbertazzi  took  the  same  meas- 
ures ;  and  after  alight  hi  the  streets  of  Bologna,  of  forty 
days'  duration,  the  latter  were  driven  out  of  the  city,  with  all 
the  Ghibelins,  their  political  associates.  Twelve  thousand 
citizens  were  condenmed  to  banishment,  their  houses  razed,  and 
theii-  estiites  confiscated.*  Florence  was  at  rest  till,  hi  1215, 
the  assjissination  of  jm  individual  produced  a  mortal  feud 
between  the  hmiilies  Buondehnonti  and  Uberti,  in  which  all 
the  city  took  a  part.  An  outrage  committed  at  Pistoja  in 
K300  sitlit  the  iniiabitants  into  tiie  pai'ties  of  Bianchi  and 
JS^eri ;  and  the.«e,  spreading  to  Florence,  created  one  of  the 
mo>t  virul<-nt  divi-ioiis  which  amioved  that  republic.  In  one 
of  the  changes  wiiich  attended  this  little  ramilication  of  tiic- 
tion,  Florence  expelled  a  young  citizen  wlio  had  borne  of- 
fices of  magi>tracy,  and  espoused  the  c;iuse  of  the  Bian- 
chi. Dante  -tyighieri  retired  to  the  courts  of  some  Ghibelin 
princes,  where  his  sublime  and  inventive  mind,  in  the 
gloom  of  exile,  completed  that  original  combination  of  vast 
and  extravagant  conceptions  with  keen  political  satin;,  which 
has  given  ininiorlality  to  his  name,  luid  even  lustre  to  the 
petty  conle.sLs  of  his  time.* 

In  the  earlier  stages  of  the  Lombard  repiildics  their  differ- 
ence-»,  jus  well  mutual  a.s  domestic,  had  Ijeen  fie(jueiitly  aj)- 
pea^ed  by  the  mediation  of  the  emperors  ;  and  the  loss  of 
thia  «ilutury  influence  may  be  considered  as  no  slight  evil 


J  Pl»iii...,.ll    t     iii    T.    412     Ttiln  ffory  » 1)1  no  CompiiKnl,  In  Srr.   lt<T.  ItJil.   t. 

Bi-i                                              mill  Jull.-t,  Ix;  Villaul,  iMt.  Fiorent.  1.  viil.;  Dttnte. 

ll"                                        i          11  niivrl,  mid  iiiLHeliu. 
tuii  ui  uuiwturiU  |jiclum  uf  uutoncn. 


388  GIOVANNI  DI  VICENZA.     Chap.  III.  Part  I. 

attached  to  that  absokite  emancipation  which  Italy  attained 
in  the  thirteenth  century.  The  popes  sometimes  endeavored 
to  interpose  an  authority  which,  though  not  quite  so  direct, 
was  held  in  greater  veneration ;  and  if  their  own  tempers 
had  been  always  pure  from  the  selfish  and  vindictive  pas- 
sions of  those  whom  they  influenced,  might  have  produced 
more  general  and  permanent  good.  But  they  considered  the 
Ghibelins  as  their  own  peculiar  enemies,  and  the  triumph  of 
the  opposite  faction  as  the  church's  best  security.  Gregory 
X.  and  Nicholas  III.,  whether  from  benevolent  motives,  or 
because  their  jealousy  of  Charles  of  Anjou,  while  at  the 
head  of  the  Guelfs,  suggested  the  revival  of  a  Ghibelin 
party  as  a  counterpoise  to  his  power,  distinguished  their  pon- 
tificate by  enforcing  measures  of  reconciliation  in  all  Italian 
cities  ;  but  their  successors  returned  to  the  ancient  policy  and 
prejudices  of  Rome. 

The  singular  history  of  an  individual  far  less  elevated  in 
Giovanni  di  Station  than  popes  or  emperors,  Fra  Giovanni  di 
Vicenza.  Viccuza,  bclongs  to  thcsc  times  and  to  this  subject. 
This  Dominican  friar  began  his  career  at  Bologna  in  1233, 
preaching  the  cessation  of  war  and  forgiveness  of  injuries. 
He  repaired  from  thence  to  Padua,  to  Verona,  and  the  neigh- 
boring cities.  At  his  command  men  laid  down  their  in- 
struments of  war,  and  embraced  their  enemies.  With  that 
susceptibility  of  transient  impulse  natural  to  popular  govern- 
ments, several  republics  implored  him  to  reform  their  laws 
and  to  settle  their  differences.  A  general  meeting  was  sum- 
moned in  the  plain  of  Paquara,  upon  the  banks  of  the  Adige. 
The  Lombards  poured  themselves  forth  from  Romagna  and 
the  cities  of  the  March ;  Guelfs  and  Ghibelins,  nobles  and 
burghers,  free  citizens  and  tenantry  of  feudal  lords,  mar- 
shalled around  their  carroccios,  caught  from  the  lips  of  the 
preacher  the  allusive  promise  of  universal  peace.  They 
submitted  to  agreements  dictated  by  Fra  Giovanni,  which 
contain  Uttle  else  than  a  mutual  amnesty ;  whether  it  were 
that  their  quarrels  had  been  really  without  object,  or  that  he 
had  dexterously  avoided  to  determine  the  real  points  of  con- 
tention. But  power  and  reputation  suddenly  acquired  are 
transitory.  Not  satisfied  with  being  the  legislator  and  arbi- 
ter of  Italian  cities,  he  aimed  at  becoming  their  master,  and 
abused  the  enthusiasm  of  Vicenza  and  Verona  to  obtain  a 
grant  of  absolute  sovereignty.     Changed  from  an  apostle  to 


Italy.  GIOVANNI  DI  YICENZA.  389 

an  usurper,  the  fate  of  Fra  Giovanni  might  be  predii-tod ; 
and  he  speedily  gave  place  to  those  who,  though  tluy  made 
a  worse  use  of  their  power,  had,  in  the  eyes  of  niiuikind, 
more  natural  pretensions  to  possess  it.^ 

>  Timbosrhi,  Storia  della  Letteratura,  t.  iv   p.  214  (a  very  well-written  account) 
SUmoudi,  t.  li.  p.  4S4. 


390  STATE  OF  ITALY.        Chap.  III.  Pakt  II. 


PART  II. 

State  of  Italy  after  the  Extinction  of  the  House  of  Suabia  —  Conquest  of  Naples 
by  Charles  of  Anjou  —  The  Lombard  Republics  become  severally  subject  to  Princes 
or  Usurpers  —  The  Tisconti  of  Milan  —  Their  Aggrandizement  —  Decline  of  the 
Impei-ial  Authority  over  Italy  —  Internal ,  State  of  Rome  —  Rienzi  —  Florence  — 
her  Forms  of  Government  historically  traced  to  the  End  of  the  Fourteenth  Cen- 
tury —  Conquest  of  Pisa  —  Pisa  —  its  Commerce,  Naval  Wars  with  Genoa,  and 
Decay  —  Genoa  —  her  Contentions  with  Venice  —  War  of  Chioggio  —  Government  of 
Genoa  — Venice  —  her  Origin  and  Prosperity  —  Venetian  Government  —  its  Vices  — 
Territorial  Conquests  of  Venice — Military  System  of  Italy  —  Companies  of  Adven- 
ture—  1,  foreign;  Guarnieri,  Hawliwood  —  and  2,  native;  Braccio,  Sforza  —  Im- 
provements in  Military  Service  —  Arms,  offensive  and  defensive  —  Invention  of 
Gunpowder  —  Naples  —  First  Line  of  Anjou  —  Joanna  I. — Ladislaus  —  Joanna  II. 
—  Francis  Sforza  becomes  Duke  of  Milan  —  AUbnzo  King  of  Naples  —  State  of  Italy 
during  the  Fifteenth  Century  —  Florence  —  Rise  of  the  Medici,  and  Ruin  of  their 
Adversaries — Pretensions  of  Charles  VIII.  to  Naples. 

From  the  death  of  Frederic  II.  in  1250,  to  the  invasion 
of  Charles  VIII.  in  1494,  a  long  and  undistinguished  period 
occurs,  which  it  is  impossible  to  break  into  any  natural  divi- 
sions. It  is  an  age  in  many  respects  highly  brilliant :  the 
age  of  poetry  and  letters,  of  art,  and  of  continual  imj^rove- 
ment.  Italy  displayed  an  intellectual  superiority  in  this 
period  over  the  Transalpine  nations  which  certainly  had  not 
appeared  since  the  destruction  of  the  Roman  empire.  But 
her  political  history  presents  a  labyrinth  of  petty  facts  so 
obscure  and  of  so  little  influence  as  not  to  arrest  the  atten- 
tion, so  intricate  and  incapable  of  classification  as  to  leave 
only  confusion  in  the  memory.  The  general  events  that  are 
worthy  of  notice,  and  give  a  character  to  this  long  period, 
are  the  establishment  of  small  tyrannies  upon  the  ruins  of 
republican  government  in  most  of  the  cities,  the  gradual  rise 
of  three  considerable  states,  Milan,  Florence,  and  Venice, 
the  naval  and  commercial  rivalry  between  the  last  city  and 
Genoa,  the  final  acquisition  by  the  popes  of  their  present 
territorial  sovereignty,  and  the  revolutions  in  the  kingdom  of 
Naples  under  the  lines  of  Anjou  and  Ai-agon. 

After  the  death  of  Frederic  II.  the  distinctions  of  Guelf 
and  Ghibelia  became  destitute  of  all  rational  meaning.  The 
most  odious  crimes  were  constantly  perpetrated,  and  the  ut- 
most miseries  endured,  for  an  echo  and  a  shade  that  mocked 


Italy.  AFFAIRS  OF  NAPLES.  391 

the  (It'luJeJ  enthu>iasts  of  faction.  None  of  the  Guolfs  de- 
nied the  noniinul  but  Lndi'tinite  sovoreigiUj  of  the  empire  ; 
and  beyond  a  naine  the  Gliibelins  themselves  would  have 
been  little  disjHjsed  to  carry  it.  But  the  vinilent  hatreds  at- 
taclied  to  these  words  grew  continually  more  imp]aeal)le.  till 
ages  of  ignominy  and  tyrannical  government  had  extin- 
guished every  energetic  passion  in  the  bosoms  of  a  degraded 
people. 

Ill  the  fall  of  the  house  of  Suabia,  Rome  appeared  to  have 
consummated  her  triumjih;  and  although  the  Ghibclin  party 
wa-  for  a  little  time  able  to  inaiiitain  itself,  and  even  to  gain 
ground,  in  the  north  of  Italy,  yet  two  events  that  occurred 
not  long  afterwards  restored  the  ascendency  of  their  adver- 
saries.   The  first  of  these  was  the  fall  of  Eccelin  da  Romano, 
whose  rapid  successes  in  Lomliardy  appeared  to  ^  ^^  ^259 
threaten  the  establisluuent  of  a  trememlous  despot- 
ism, and  induced  a  temjjorary  union  of  Guelf  and  Ghibelin 
states,  by  which  he  was  overthrown.    The  next  and  far  more 
iinj>ortant  was  the  change  of  dynasty  in  Naj)les.  Affairs  of 
This  kingdom  had  been  occupied,  after  the  death  >'"p'''s- 
of  Conrad,  by  his  illegitimate  brother,  Manfied,  in  the  be- 
half, as  he  at  lirst  pretended,  of  young  Conradin 
the  heir,  but   in  fact  as  his  own  accpiisition.     He 
was  a  prince  of  an  active  and  firm  mind,  well  fitted  for  his 
difficult  post,  to  whom  the  Ghibelins  looked  up  as  their  liead, 
and  as  the  representative  of  his  father.    It  wa-s  a  natural  ob- 
ject with  the  popes,  independently  of  their  ill-will  towards . 
a  son  of  Frederic  II.,  to  see  a  sovereign  on  whom  tiiey  could 
better  rely  placed  uj)on  so  neighboring  a  throne,  cimriesof 
Charles  count  of  Anjou,  brother  of  JSt.  Louis,  was  ^"Jo"- 
tempted  by  them  to  lead  a  crusade  (for  as  such  all  wars  for 
the    interest   of    Home    were   now   considered)   against    the 
Neapolitan  usurper.     The  chance  of  a  battle  de- 
cided  the  fate  of  Naples,  and  hail  a  striking  in- 
fluence   u{Kjn   the    history  of    Kiini|)e   for  several  centuries. 
Manfred   was   killed  in   the  field  :    but   there  remained  the 
legitimate  heir  of  the  Frederics,  a  boy  of  seventeen  years 
old,  C<jnnidin,  son  of  Conrad,  who  rashly,  as  we  say  at   least 
alter  the  event,  attempted  to  regain  his  inheritance.     He  fell 
uilo  the  hands  of  Charles;  and  tli«;  voice  of  those  rud(!  ages, 
as  well  as  of  a  mon;  enlightened  posterity,  has  united  in  brand- 
ing with  everhi-sting  infamy  the  name  of  that  prince,  who 


392  DECLINE  OF  THE  GHIBELINS.    Chap.  III.  Part  II 

A  D  1268  ^^^  ^^^  hesitate  to  purchase  the  security  of  his 
own  title  by  the  public  execution  of  an  honorable 
competitor,  or  rather  a  rightful  claimant  of  the  throne  he 
had  usurped.  With  Coni-adin  the  house  of  Suabia  was  ex- 
tmguished;  but  Constance  the  daughter  of  Manfred  had 
transported  Ms  right  to  Sicily  and  Naples  into  the  house  of 
Ai'agon,  by  her  marriage  with  Peter  III. 

This  success  of  a  monarch  selected  by  the  Roman  pontiffs 
Decline  of  ^^  their  particular  champion,  turned  the  tide  of 
the  Ghibeiin  faction  ovcr  all  Italy.  He  expelled  the  Ghibelins 
^^^  ^'  from  Florence,  of  which  they  had  a  few  years 

before  obtained  a  complete  command  by  means  of  their 
memorable  victory  upon  the  river  Arbia.  After  the  fall  of 
Conradin  that  party  was  everywhere  discouraged.  Germany 
held  out  small  hopes  of  support,  even  when  the  imperial 
thi'one,  which  had  long  been  vacant,  should  be  filled  by  one 
of  her  princes.  The  populace  were  in  almost  every  city 
attached  to  the  church  and  to  the  name  of  Guelf ;  the  kings 
of  Naples  employed  their  arms,  and  the  popes  their  excom- 
munications ;  so  that  for  the  remainder  of  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury the  name  of  Ghibeiin  was  a  term  of  proscription  in  the 
majority  of  Lombard  and  Tuscan  republics.  Charles  was 
constituted  by  the  pope  vicar-general  in  Tuscany.  This  was 
a  new  pretension  of  the  Roman  pontiffs,  to  name  the  lieuten- 
ants of  the  empire  durmg  its  vacancy,  which  indeed  could 
not  be  completely  filled  up  without  their  consent.  It  soon, 
however,  became  evident  that  he  aimed  at  the  sovereignty  of 
Italy.  Some  of  the  popes  themselves,  Gregory  X.  and  Nich- 
olas IV.,  grew  jealous  of  their  own  creature.  At  the  congress 
of  Cremona,  in  1269,  it  was  proposed  to  confer  upon  Charles 
the  seigniory  of  all  the  Guelf  cities ;  but  the  greater  part 
were  prudent  enough  to  choose  him  rather  as  a  friend  than  a 
master.^ 

The  Lorn-  The  cities  of  Lombardy,  however,  of  either  de- 

become'sub-    '^O'^ination,  Were   no   longer   influenced   by  that 
ject  to  lords,  generous  disdain  of  one  man's  will  which  is  to  re- 

1  Sismondi,  t.  iii.  p.417.     Several,  how-  empire,  and  either  to  acquire  that  title 

ever,  including  Milan,  took  an  oath  of  himself,  or  at  least  to  stand  in  the  same 

fidelity  to  Charles  the  same  year.     Ibid,  relation  as  the  emperors  had  done  to  the 

In  1273  he  was  lord  of  Alessandria  and  Italian  states ;    which,  according  to  the 

Piacenza,  and  received  tribute  from  Mi-  usage  of  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  cen- 

lan,  Bologna,  and  most  Lombard  cities,  turies,  left  them  in  possession  of  every- 

Muratori.     It  was  evidently  his  intention  thing   that   we  call  independence,  with 

to  avail  himself  of  the  vacancy  of  the  the  reservation  of  a  nominal  aUegiauce. 


Italy.  SUBJECTION  OF  LOMB.LRD  CITIES.  393 

publican  governments  what  ohastitj  is  to  wonion  —  a  conser- 
vative i)rincijik',  never  to  be  reasoned  upon,  or  subjected  to 
calculations  of  utility.  By  force,  or  stratairera,  or  free  con- 
sent, almost  all  the  Lomliard  republics  had  already  fallen  un- 
der the  yoke  of  some  leading  citizen,  who  became  the  lord 
(signore)  or,  in  the  German  sense,  tyrant  of  his  country. 
The  first  instance  of  a  voluntary  delegation  of  sovereignty 
was  that  above  mentioned  of  Ferrara,  which  placed  itself 
xuider  the  lord  of  Este.  Eccelin  made  himself  truly  the 
tyrant  of  the  cities  beyond  the  Adige ;  and  such  experience 
ought  naturally  to  have  inspired  the  Italians  with  more 
univcrsil  abiiorrence  of  despotism.  But  every  danger  ap- 
peared trivial  in  the  eyes  of  exasperated  factions  when 
compared  with  the  ascendency  of  tlieir  adversaries.  Weary 
of  unceasing  luul  useless  contests,  in  which  ruin  fell  with  an 
alternate  but  equal  hand  uj)on  either  party,  liberty  withdrew 
from  a  people  who  disgraced  her  name ;  and  the  tumultuous, 
the  brave,  the  intractable  Lombards  becjuiie  eager  to  submit 
themselves  to  a  master,  and  patient  under  the  heaviest 
oppression.  Or,  if  tyranny  sometimes  overstepped  the  limits 
of  forbearance,  and  a  seditious  risinj;  expelled  the  rei<niinor 
j)rinct/,  It  was  only  to  produce  a  change  of  liands,  and  transfer 
the  iraiwtent  people  to  a  different,  and  perhaps  a  worse,  des- 
potism.' In  many  cities  not  a  conspiracy  was  planned,  not  a 
sigh  was  breatiied,  in  favor  of  repul)lican  government,  after 
once  they  had  passed  under  the  sway  of  a  single  j)erson. 
The  progress  indeed  was  gradual,  though  sure,  from  limited 
to  absolute,  from  temj>f»niry  to  iieredilary  power,  from  a  just 
and  conciliating  rule  to  extortion  and  cruelty.  But  before 
the  midille  of  the  fourteenth  century,  at  the  latest,  all  those 
citie-  wliich  hail  spurned  at  the  fiiintest  mark  of  submission 
to  the  emperors  lost  even  the  recollection  of  self-government, 
and  were  bequenthed,  like  an  undoubted  patrimony,  among 
the  chililren  of  their  new  lords.  Such  is  the  progress  of 
usuqiation  ;  and  such  the  vengeance  thsit  Heaven  reserves 

»  »«•  an   iMtanr*  of   the  manner  in  the  »pot,  put  Ills  Ron  to  death  in  cold 

»l,i.  1,  .-,,■•  rv-,,,r  ,,  ..  .,,1.,.,..  I  f.r  ,.,,.  i.l.Kxl,  (•  pol  Hi   fcco  ficnoro  lii'llii   terra. 

Villiiiil,  1.  X.  c.  "Jtt,  olj-t-rvi'M,  liki'  ii  ^nod 

'  '  r<-|)ulili<-iiii,  that  (!<i<l  iiii.l  ttiltlll<-.|  111  (his 

«**  ■■  ihp  cilj  (riinw  the   wonts   of  IiIn   Onii|M'l   (((lU'ry,    what 

l^  ■  f  h'Ti*,  crvliiic,  (ioiipelf),   I   will  slay   mv  eiH'iiiy  hy  ">y 

VIt»  Ii  J- 1'    •.  •■  u.  '   I'uM-riiio  enemy  —  abbattvudu   i'u'iio   tlraiiuo  pet 

•  la  »u«  gahrUe!  I  ■  riuo  uj^n  I'altro. 


394  THE  TOERIAOT  AND  VISCONTL    Chap.  HI.  Paet  II. 

for  those  who  waste  in  license  and  faction  its  first  of  social 
blessings,  liberty.^ 

The  city  most  distinguished  in  both  wars  against  the  house 
The  of  Suabia,  for   an    unconquerable  attachment  to 

an^T^^  republican  institutions,  was  the  first  to  sacrifice 
conti  at  them  in  a  few  years  after  the  death  of  Frederic 
Milan.  jj^     Milan  had  for  a  considerable  time  been  agi- 

tated by  civil  dissensions  between  the  nobility  and  inferior 
citizens.  These  parties  were  pretty  equally  balanced,  and 
their  success  was  consequently  alternate.  Each  had  its  own 
podesta,  as  a  party-leader,  distmct  from  the  legitimate  magis- 
trate of  the  city.  At  the  head  of  the  nobility  was  their  arch- 
bishop, Fra  Leon  Perego ;  the  people  chose  Martin  della 
Torre,  one  of  a  noble  family  which  had  ambitiously  sided 
with  the  democratic  faction.  In  consequence  of  the  crime  of 
a  nobleman,  who  had  murdered  one  of  his  creditors,  the  two 
parties  took  up  arms  in  1257.  A  civil  war,  of  various  suc- 
cess, and  interrupted  by  several  pacifications,  which  in  that 
unhappy  temper  could  not  be  durable,  was  terminated  in 
about  two  years  by  the  entire  discomfiture  of  the  aristocracy, 
and  by  the  election  of  Martin  della  Torre  as  chief  and  lord 
(capitano  e  signore)  of  the  people.  Though  the  Milanese 
did  not  probably  intend  to  renounce  the  sovereignty  resident 
in  their  general  assemblies,  yet  they  soon  lost  the  republican 
spirit ;  five  in  succession  of  the  family  della  Torre  might  be 
said  to  reign  in  Milan ;  each,  indeed,  by  a  formal  election, 
but  with  an  implied  recognition  of  a  sort  of  hereditary  title. 
Twenty  years  afterwards  the  Visconti,  a  family  of  opposite 
interests,  supplanted  the  Torriani  at  Milan ;  and  the  rivalry 
between  these  great  houses  was  not  at  an  end  till  the  final 
establishment  of  Matteo  Yisconti  in  1313 ;  but  the  people 
were  not  otherwise  considered  than  as  aiding  by  force  the  one 
or  other  party,  and  at  most  deciding  between  the  pretensions 
of  their  masters. 

The  vigor  and  concert  infused  into  the  Guelf  party  by  the 

1  See  the  observations  of  Sismondi,  t.  people  was  consulted  upon  several  occa- 

iv.  p.  212,  on  the  conduct  of  the  Lorn-  sions.     At  Milan  there  was  a  council  of 

bard  signori  (I  know  not  of  any  English  900  nobles,  not  permanent  or  represent- 

word    that    characterizes    them,    except  ative,  but  selected  and  convened  at  the 

tyrant  in  its  primitive  sense)  during  the  discretion  of  the  government,  throughout 

first    period    of   their    dominion.     They  the  reigns  of  the  Visconti.     Corio,  p.  519, 

were  generally  chosen  in  an  assembly  of  583.     Thus,  as  Sismondi  remarks,   they 

the  people,  sometimes  for  a  short  term,  respected  the  sovereignty  of  the  people, 

prolonged  in  the    same    manner.     The  while  they  destroyed  its  liberty. 


I 


Italy.  REVIV.U.  OF  THE  GHIBELINS.  395 

successes  of  Charles  of  Anjou,  was  not  very  dura-  i;,.viv„i  of 
ble.     That  prince  was  soon  involved  in  a  protracted  t'l^-  'iiiibe- 
and  unfortunate  quarrel  with  the  kings  of  Arag:on,  '" ''"  ^' 
to  whose  prtitection  his  revolted  subjects  iu  Italy  had  recurred. 
On  th<>  other  hand,  several  men  of  enertretic  character  retrieved 
the  (Tliil>elin  interests  in   l^nnhardy,  and  even  in  the  Tuscan 
cities.     The  Visconti  were  acknowledjred  heads  of  that  faction. 
A  faniilv  earlv  estahlished  as  lords  of  Verona.  th(^  della  Scala, 
maintained  tlie  credit  of  the  same  denomination  between  the 
Adijre  and  the  Adriatic.     Castruccio  Castrucani,  an  adven- 
turer of  remarkable  ability,  rendered  himself  j)rince  of  Lucca, 
and  drew  over  a  ibrmidable  accession  to  the  imperial  side 
from  the  lieart  of  tlie  church-party  in  Tuscjuiy,  though  his 
death  restored    the  ancient   order  of  things.     The  inferior 
tyrant-:  were  partly  Ouelf,  partly  Ohibelin,  according  to  local 
revolutions;  but  upon  the  whole  the  latter  acijuired  a  gradual 
ascendency.     Those  indeed  who  cared  for  the  independence 
of  Italv.  or  for  tiieir  own  power,  had  far  less  to  fear  from  the 
phantom  of  imperial  prerogatives,  long  intermitted  and  inca- 
]iable  of  l)eing  enforced,  than  from  the  new  race  of  foreign 
princes  whom  the  church  had  substituted  for  the 
iiouse  of  Suabia.     The  Angevin  kings  of  Naples  Nap^s^iiin 
Wert'   sovereigns   of   Provence,   and    from   thence  "' ^"""""nd 

11  -f^'     1  11  1  "'^  Italy. 

easily  encroaclied  uiwn  I'letlmont,  and  threatened 
the  Milanese.  Robert,  the  third  of  this  line,  almost  openly 
aspired,  like  his  grandtather  Charles  I.,  to  a  real  sovereignty 
over  Italy.  His  otTers  of  assistance  to  Guelf  cities  in  war 
were  always  coupled  with  a  demand  of  the  sovereignty. 
Many  vielded  to  liis  ambition ;  and  even  Florence  twice 
Ix'stowed  upon  him  a  tein|>oraiy  dietatorshiii.  In  l.'U4  he 
Wits  acknowledged  lord  of  Lucca,  Florence,  Pavia,  Alessan- 
dria. IJergamo.  and  the  cities  of  Romagna.  In  l.'!18  the 
Gui'lts  of  Genua  foinid  no  other  resoiiice  against  the  Gliibe- 
lin  emigrants  who  were  under  their  walls  than  to  resign  their 
lilM-rtie^  to  the  king  of  Naples  for  the  term  of  ten  years, 
wliieh  he  prorured  to  Im-  renewed  for  six  more.  The  Avignon 
jK)|)«'s,  e-<|H'ciaIly  John  XXII.,  out  of  blind  hatred  to  the  em- 
peror Ijouis  of  Havaria  and  the  Visconti  family,  abetted  all 
these  mea»ure-<  of  ambition.  But  they  were  rendered  alior- 
tive  bv  Robert's  ileatli  iuid  the  .-ubsecpient  disturliances  ol  his 
kingdom. 

At    the  hitter  end   of   the   thirteenth   century  there  were 


396  STATE  OF  LOMBARDY.     Chap.  III.  Part  II. 

almost  as  many  princes  in  the  north  of  Italy  as  there  had 
been  free  cities  in  the  preceding  age.  Their  equality,  and 
the  frequent  domestic  revolutions  which  made  their  seat  un- 
steady, kept  them  for  a  while  from  encroaching  on  each  other. 
Gradually,  however,  they  became  less  numerous  :  a  quantity 
of  obscure  tyrants  were  swept  away  from  the  smaller  cities  ; 
and  the  people,  careless  or  hopeless  of  liberty,  were  glad  to 
exchange  the  rule  of  despicable  petty  usurpers  for 
Lombartiy  that  of  morc  distinguished  and  powerful  families. 
0°  the"''^'^^''  About  the  year  1350  the  central  parts  of  Lombar- 
fourteenth  dy  had  fallen  under  the  dominion  of  the  Visconti. 
cen  ury.  Four  Other  houses  occupied  the  second  rank  ;  that 
of  Este  at  Ferrara  and  Modena ;  of  Scala  at  Verona,  which 
under  Cane  and  Mastino  della  Scala  had  seemed  likely  to 
contest  with  the  lords  of  Milan  the  supremacy  over  Lombar- 
dy ;  of  Carrara  at  Padua,  which  later  than  any  Lombard 
city  had  resigned  her  liberty ;  and  of  Gonzaga  at  Mantua, 
which,  without  ever  obtaining  any  material  extension  of  terri- 
tory, continued,  probably  for  that  reason,  to  reign  undis- 
Power  of  the  turbed  till  the  eighteenth  century.  But  these 
Visconti.  united  were  hardly  a  match,  as  they  sometimes 
experienced,  for  the  Visconti.  That  family,  the  object  of 
every  league  formed  in  Italy  for  more  than  fifty  years,  in  con- 
stant hostility  to  the  church,  and  well  inured  to  interdicts  and 
excommunications,  pi'oducing  no  one  man  of  military  talents, 
but  fertile  of  tyrants  detested  for  their  perfidiousness  and 
cruelty,  was  nevertheless  enabled,  with  almost  uninterrupted 
success,  to  add  city  after  city  to  the  dominion  of  Milan  till  it 
absorbed  all  the  north  of  Italy.  Under  Gian  Galeazzo,  whose 
reign  began  in  1385,  the  viper  (their  armorial  bearing)  as- 
sumed indeed  a  menacing  attitude :  ^  he  overturned  the  great 
family  of  Scala,  and  annexed  their  extensive  possessions  to  his 
own  ;  no  power  intervened  from  Vercelli  in  Piedmont  to  Fel- 
tre  and  Belluno  ;  while  the  free  cities  of  Tuscany,  Pisa,  Siena, 
Perugia,  and  even  Bologna,  as  if  by  a  kind  of  witchcraft, 
voluntarily  called  in  a  dissembhng  tyi'ant  as  their  master. 

Powerful  as  the  Visconti  were  in  Italy,  they  were  long  in 
washing  out  the  tinge  of  recent  usui'pation,  which  humbled 
them  before  the  legitimate  dynasties  of  Europe.     At  the  siege 

1  Allusions  to  heraldry  are  very  com-    bitually  use  the  viper,  il  biscione,  as  a 
nion  in  the  Italian  writers.    All  the  his-    synonym  for  the  power  of  Milan, 
toriaus    of   the  fourteenth  century  ha- 


Italy.  KELATIOXS   WITH   THE  EMriHE.  397 

of  Genoa  in  1318  Robert  king  of  Naples  rejected  with  eon- 
tempt  the  ehalleiige  of  Mareo  Vi-eonti  to  decide  their  quar- 
rel in  single  combat.^  But  the  pride  of  sovereigns,  Hke  that 
of  private  men,  is  easily  set  aside  for  their  interest.  Gale- 
azzo  Visconti  purchased  with  100,000  Horins  a  daughter  of 
France  for  his  .-on,  which  the  French  historians  mention  as  a 
deplorable  humiliation  for  their  crown.  A  few  years  after- 
wards, Lionel  duke  of  Clarence,  second  son  of  Edward  III., 
certainly  not  an  inferior  match,  espoused  Galeazzo's  daughter. 
Both  these  connections  were  short-lived ;  but  the  union  of 
Valentine,  daughter  of  Gian  Galeazzo,  with  the  duke  of  Or- 
leans, in  138'J,  produced  far  more  important  consequences, 
and  served  to  transmit  a  claim  to  her  descendants,  Louis  XIL 
and  Francis  L,  from  which  the  long  calamities  of  Italy  at  the 
beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century  were  chiefly  derived.  Not 
long  after  this  marriage  the  Visconti  were  tacitly  admitted 
among  the  reigning  princes,  by  the  erection  of 
Milan  into  a  duchy  under  letters-patent  of  the  * "  ^^°' 
emperor   Weii<"eslau»." 

The  imperial  authority  over  Italy  was  almost  entirely  sus- 
pended after  the  death  of  Frederic  II.     A  long  interregnum 
followed  in  Germany ;  and  when  the  vacancy  was  supplied 
by  Rodolph  of  Ilapsburg,  he  was  too  prudent   to  „  ,  ,. 
dissipate  Ins  moderate  resources  where  the  great  tho  ompire 
house  of   Suabia  had  failed.     About  forty  years  *'"'  \"l!^- 
afterwards  the  emperor  Ili-nry  of  Luxemburg,  a 
prince,  like   Rfxlolph,  of  small'  hereditary  posses- "^'"■y  ^^• 
sions,  but  active  and  discreet,  availed  himself  of  *  "' 
the   aneir-nt    rcsjH'ct   borne    to  the  imperial   name,  and    the 
mutual  jealou.-ies  of  tin,-  Italians,  to  recover  for  a  very  short 
time  a  remarkable  influence.     But,  though  professing  neu- 
trality and  desire  of  union  between  the  Guelfs  and  Ghii)elin3, 
he  could  not  succeed  in  removing  the  distrust  of  the  former; 
his  exigencii's  impelled  him  to  large  demands  of  money  ;  and 
the  Italians,  when  they  counted  his  scjinty  German  cavalry, 
pcnu-ived  that   ob<'dicnce  wa<  altogether  a   matt<'r  of  their 
own  ehoiee.     Henry  died,  however,  in  time  to  .save  himself 
from  any  decisive  reverse.     His  succes.sors,  Louis  of  Bavaria 
and  Charles  IV.,  de-^cended  from  the  Alps  with  similar  ino- 

'I'  "   "   IW  mnlto  tulefino  noblomnn  of  I'ixa,  tlinu|{h  a  sort  uf  priiira 

O*   I  !«•   <••  K3.     It  WM  Iti  Siinliiiiii.to  marry  one  of  thu  Viitcoutl. 

rwk'.i,.  1    ;i     ii,.«-uiiiiiir<>.  u     I>aiiU.<    U'll/I  I'unfntoriii,  rant.  vlll. 
uj,  lu  the  widow  of  .Mno  01  Ualluru,  a        a  Corlo,  ji.  MS. 


398  CESSION  OF  EOaiAGNE.     Chap.  III.  Part  II. 

lives,  but  after  some  temporary  good  fortune  were  obliged  to 
return,  not  without  discredit.  Yet  the  Italians  never  broke 
that  almost  invisible  thread  which  connected  them  with  Ger- 
many ;  the  fallacious  name  of  Roman  emperor  still  chal- 
lenged their  allegiance,  though  conferred  by  seven  Teutonic 
electors  without  their  concurrence.  Even  Florence,  the  most 
independent  and  high-spirited  of  republics,  was  induced  to 
make  a  treaty  with  Charles  IV.  in  1355,  which,  while  it  con- 
firmed all  her  actual  Uberties,  not  a  little,  by  that  very  con- 
firmation, affected  her  sovereignty.'^  This  deference  to  the 
supposed  prerogatives  of  the  empire,  even  while  they  were 
least  formidable,  was  partly  owing  to  jealousy  of  French  or 
Neapolitan  interference,  partly  by  the  national  hatred  of  the 
popes  who  had  seceded  to  Avignon,  and  in  some  degree  to  a 
misplaced  respect  for  antiquity,  to  which  the  revival  of  let- 
ters had  given  birth.  The  great  civilians,  and  the  much 
greater  poets,  of  the  fourteenth  century,  taught  Italy  to  con- 
sider her  emperor  as  a  dormant  sovereign,  to  whom  her 
various  principalities  and  republics  were  subordinate,  and 
during  whose  absence  alone  they  had  legitimate  authority. 
In  one  part,  however,  of  that  country,  the  empire  had, 
Cession  of  ^^ou  after  the  commencement  of  this  period,  spon- 
Romagua  to  taucously  renounced  its  sovereignty.  From  the 
ae  popes.  ^^^  ^^  Pepin's  donation,  confirmed  and  extended 
by  many  subsequent  charters,  the  Holy  See  had  tolerably 
just  pretensions  to  the  province  entitled  Romagna,  or  the 
exarcbate  of  Ravenna.  But  the  popes,  whose  menaces  were 
dreaded  at  the  extremities  of  Europe,  were  still  very  weak 
as  temporal  princes.     Even  Innocent  III.  had  never  been 

1  The  republic  of  Florence  was  at  In  this,  it  must  be  owned,  he  assumes  a 
this  time  in  considerable  peiil  from  a  decided  tone  of  sovereignty.  The  gon- 
coalition  of  the  Tuscan  cities  against  her,  falonier  and  priors  are  declared  to  be  his 
which  rendered  the  protection  of  the  vicars.  The  deputies  of  the  city  did 
emperor  convenient.  But  it  was  very  homage  and  swore  obedience.  Circum- 
reluetantly  that  she  acquiesced  in  even  a  stances  induced  the  principal  citizens  to 
nominal  submission  to  his  authority.  The  make  this  submission,  which  they  knew 
Florentine  envoys,  in  their  first  address,  to  be  merely  nominal.  But  the  high- 
would  only  use  the  words,  Santa  Corona,  spirited  people,  not  so  indifferent  about 
or  Serenissimo  Principe  ;  senza  ricordarlo  names,  came  into  it  very  unwillingly, 
imperadore,  o  dimostrargli  alcuna  reve-  The  treaty  was  seven  times  proposed, 
renza  di  suggezzione,  domandando  che  and  as  often  rejected,  in  the  consiglio  del 
il  commune  di  Firenze  volea  essendogli  popolo,  before  their  feelings  were  sub- 
ubbidiente,  le  cotali  e  le  cotali  fran-  dued.  Its  publication  was  received  with 
chigie  per  mantenere  il  suo  popolo  nelP  no  marks  of  joy.  The  public  buildings 
usata  libertade.  Mat.  ViUani,  p.  274.  alone  were  illuminated  :  but  a  sad  silence 
(Script.  Rer.  Ital.  t.  xiv.)  This  style  indicated  the  wounded  pride  of  every 
made  Charles  angry  ;  and  the  city  soon  private  citizen.  — M.  ViUani,  p.  286,  290 ; 
atoned  for  it  by  accepting  his  privilege.  Sismondi,  t.  vi.  p.  238. 


i 


It.vlt.  internal  state  OF  RO^[K.  899 

able  to  obtain  possession  of  this  part  of  St.  Peter's  patri- 
monv.  The  cin-umstjuK-es  of  Rotlulph's  accession  insjiired 
>>ichuhLS  III.  with  more  confidence.  That  emperor  grunted 
a  confirmation  of  everything  inchided  in  the  donations  of 
Louis  I.,  Olho,  juid  his  other  predecessors ;  but  was  still  re- 
luctant or  :t<h:uncd  to  renounce  his  imperial  rights.  Accord- 
inglv  his  rharter  is  expressed  to  be  granted  without  diminu- 
tion of  the  empire  (sine  demembratione  imperii)  ;  and  his 
chanei-ll<ir  received  an  oath  of  lidclity  from  the  cities  of  1\0- 
magna.  But  the  |>ope  insisting  lirmly  on  his  own  claim, 
l^nlolph  discreetly  avoided  involving  himself  in  a  fatal  quar- 
rel, and,  in  1278,  al)s<)lutt'ly  released  the  ini|)erial  supremacy 
over  all  the  dominions  already  granted  to  the  Holy  See.^ 

This  is  a  leiiding  epocii  in  the  temporal  monarchy  of  llome. 
But  she  stood  only  in  the  place  of  the  emperor;  and  her 
ultimate  sovereignty  was  compatible  with  tin-  practicable  in- 
dependence of  the  free  cities,  or  of  the  usiiri>ers  who  had 
risen  up  among  them.  Bologna,  Faenza,  Rimini,  and  Ka- 
vi-nna,  with  many  others  le<s  (•onsi<l<'rable,  tO(jk  an  (jatli  in- 
deed to  the  pope,  but  continued  to  regulate  both  their  inter- 
nal concerns  and  foreign  relations  at  their  own  discretion. 
Tlie  first  of  these  cities  was  far  preeminent  above  the  rest 
Ibr  (Kjpulation  and  renown,  and,  though  not  without  several 
int«'rmissions,  preserved  a  republiam  character  till  the  end 
of  the  fourteenth  century.  The  rest  were  soon  enslaved  by 
prtty  tyrants,  more  obscure  than  those  of  Lomliardy.  It  was 
not  ca>v  for  the  j»ontiffs  of"  Avignon  to  reinstate  themselves 
in  a  dominion  which  they  seemed  to  have  abandoned ;  but 
they  maile  sevenil  attempts  to  recover  it,  sometimes  with 
spiritual  anns,  sometimes  with  the  more  eiricaeious  aid  of 
nurcenary  troops.  The  amiaLs  of  this  part  of  Italy  arc 
peculiarly  uninteresting. 

liome  itself  wit",  throughout  the  miildle  ages,  very  little 
dispoM,'d  to  ae(juiesce  in  tiie  government  of  her  jnt^^nai 
bi>ii<(p.      His   rights   were   indefinite,  and   uncon- kuu.- of 
firmed   Ity   jHJsitive    law ;    llie    <inperor   was   long  """'"• 
eovereign,  the  people  always  meant  to  be  free.     Besides  the 
commou  causes  of  insulxirdination  and  anarchy  among  the 
Italians,  which  applied  ecpiully  U)  the  cjipital  city,  other  sen- 
timents more  pecuhjir  to  Itoniif  jireservecl  a  continual,  tliough 

I  MuntoH,  wi  Ban.  1274,  1275,  1278  ;  Slamoudi,  t.  lU.  p.  Ml. 


400       INTERNAL  STATE  OF  ROME.  Chap.  III.  Part  II. 

not  uniform,  influence  foi'  many  centuries.  There  still  re- 
mained enough  in  the  wreck  of  that  vast  inheritance  to 
swell  the  bosoms  of  her  citizens  with  a  consciousness  of  their 
own  dignity.  They  bore  the  venerable  name,  they  contem- 
plated the  monuments  of  art  and  empire,  and  forgot,  in  the 
illusions  of  national  pride,  that  the  tutelar  gods  of  the  build- 
ing were  departed  forever.  About  the  middle  of  the  twelfth 
century  these  recollections  were  heightened  by  the  eloquence 
of  Arnold  of  Brescia,  a  political  heretic  who  preached  against 
the  temporal  jurisdiction  of  the  hierarchy.  In  a  temporary 
intoxication  of  fancy,  they  were  led  to  make  a  ridiculous 
show  of  self-imjjortance  towards  Frederic  Barbarossa,  when 
he  came  to  receive  the  imperial  crown ;  but  the  German 
sternly  chided  their  ostentation,  and  chastised  their  resistance.-^ 
With  the  popes  they  could  deal  more  securely.  Several  of 
them  were  expelled  from  Rome  during  that  age  by  the  sedi- 
tious citizens.  Lucius  II.  died  of  hurts  received  in  a  tumult. 
The  government  was  vested  in  fifty-six  senators,  annually 
chosen  by  the  people,  through  the  intervention  of  an  electoral 
body,  ten  delegates  from  each  of  the  thirteen  districts  of  the 
city.^  This  constitution  lasted  not  quite  fifty  years.  In  1192 
Rome  imitated  the  prevailing  fashion  by  the  appointment  of 
an  annual  foreign  magistrate.^  Except  in  name,  the  senator 
of  Rome  appears  to  have  perfectly  resembled  the  podesta  of 
other  cities.  This  magistrate  superseded  the  representative 
senate,  who  had  proved  by  no  means  adequate  to  control  the 
most  lawless  aristocracy  of  Italy.  I  shall  not  repeat  the  story 
of  Brancaleon's  rigorous  and  inflexible  justice,  which  a  great 
historian  has  already  drawn  from  obscurity.  It  illustrates 
not  the  annals  of  Rome  alone,  but  the  general  state  of  Italian 
society,  the  nature  of  a  podesta's  duty,  and  the  difficulties  of 
its  execution.  The  office  of  senator  survives  after  more  than 
six  hundred  years  ;  but  he  no  longer  wields  the  "  iron  flail "  * 
of  Brancaleon ;  and  his  nomination  proceeds,  of  course,  from 
the  supreme  pontiff,  not  from  the  people.     In  the  twelfth  and 

1  The  impertinent  address  of  a  Roman    ages  to  the   last  chapters  of  Gibbon's 
orator  to  Frederic,  and  his  answer,  are    Decline  and  Fall. 

preserved  in  Otho    of   Frisingen,   1.   ii.  3  Sismondi,  t.  ii.  p.  308. 

c.  22;  but  so  much  at  length,  that  we  *  The  readers  of  Spenser  will  recollect 

may  suspect  some   e.xaggeration.     Otho  the  iron   flail    of  Talus,   the   attendant 

is  rather  rhetorical.     They  may  be  read  of  Arthegal,   emblematic   of   the   severe 

in  Gibbon,  c.  69.  justice  of  the  lord  deputy  of  Ireland, 

2  Sismondi,   t.  ii.   p.  36.     Besides  Sis-  Sir  Arthur  Grey,  shadowed  under  that 
mondi  and  Muratori,  I  would  refer  for  allegory. 

the  history  of  Gome  during  the  middie 


Italy.  RIENZI.  401 

thirteenth  centune«i  the  iJenatt'.  and  the  senator  who  sueoeeded 
them,  exereised  one  distinjjuishiiig  attribute  of  sovereignty, 
tliat  of  eoininiT  uohl  and  silver  monev.  Some  of  their  coins 
still  exist,  witli  lejrends  in  a  very  republican  tone.^  Doubt- 
less the  tfni|>oral  authority  of  the  juipes  varied  accordinjj  to 
their  |»ersonal  character.  Innocent  III.  had  much  more  than 
his  predecessors  for  almost  a  century,  or  than  some  of  his 
successors.  He  made  the  senator  take  an  oath  of  fealty  to 
him,  which,  though  not  very  comprehensive,  must  have  passed 
ill  those  times  as  a  recognition  of  his  superiority.- 

Though  thei*e  was  much  less  obedience  to  any  legitimate 
power  at  Kome  than  anywhere  else  in  Italy,  even  during  the 
thirteenth  century,  yet,  after  the  secession  of  the  popes  to 
Avignon,  their  own  city  was  let\  in  a  far  worse  condition  than 
before.  Di-orders  of  every  kind,  tunudt  and  robbery,  pre- 
vailed in  the  streets.  The  Homan  nobility  were  engaged  in 
perpetual  war  with  each  olh<r.  Not  content  with  their  own 
fortified  palaces,  they  turned  the  sacred  monuments  of  antiq- 
uity into  stmngholds,  and  consunnnated  the  destruction  of 
time  and  contjuest.  At  no  period  has  the  city  endured  such 
irreparalile  injuries ;  nor  was  the  downfall  of  the  western 
empire  S4j  fatal  to  its  capital  as  the  contemptible  feuds  of  the 
Orsini  and  Colonna  families.  AVhatever  there  was  of  gov- 
ernment.  whether  administered  by  a  legate  from  Avignon  or 
by  the  numicipal  authorities,  had  lo.-t  all  hold  on  these  power- 
ful barons.  In  the  midst  of  this  degradation  and  wretched- 
ness, an  obscure  man,  Nicola  di  Rienzi,  conceived  ^y^^  tribune 
the  project  of  restoring  Home,  not  oidy  to  good  itienzi.  _ 
order,  but  even  to  her  ancient  greatness.  He  had  *'"'  '" 
re<'eive<l  an  education  beyond  his  birth,  and  nourished  his 
miixl  with  tin.'  ^tudy  of  the  best  writers.  After  many  ha- 
rangues to  the  people,  which  the  noltility,  blinded  by  their 
SfclfHonfidence,  <lifl  not  attempt  to  repress,  Rienzi  suddenly 
excited  an  insurrection,  and  obtained  complete  success.  He 
w:l«  placed  at  the  head  of  a  new  goverinnent,  with  the  title 
of  Tribune,  and  with  ahnost  unlimited  power.  The  first 
eflTeeis  of  this  revolution  were  wonderful.  All  the  noldes 
Hubmitled,  though  with  great  reluctance ;  the  roads  were 
cl«:ared  of  njblwrs ;  traiKpiillity  wa>  restored  at  home;  some 
severe  examples  of  justic«-   intimidated  oflenders ;    juid  the 

I  <illit>oii.  rol.  ill.  p.  289  ;  Muntori,  Antiqult.  lul   Diswrt.  27. 
:  MuiiioiiJI.  p  9/J 
Voi„  I.  'JO 


402  AFFAIRS  OF  ROME.       Chap.  III.  Part  II. 

tribune  was  regarded  by  all  the  people  as  the  destined  re- 
storer of  Rome  and  Italy.  Though  the  court  of  Avignon 
could  not  approve  of  such  an  usurpation,  it  temporized 
enough  not  directly  to  oppose  it.  Most  of  the  Italian  repub- 
lics, and  some  of  the  princes,  sent  ambassadors,  and  seemed 
to  recognize  pretensions  which  were  tolerably  ostentatious. 
The  king  of  Hungary  and  queen  of  Naples  submitted  their 
quarrel  to  the  arbitration  of  Rienzi,  who  did  not,  however, 
undertake  to  decide  upon  it.  But  this  sudden  exaltation  in- 
toxicated his  understanding,  and  exhibited  failings  entirely 
incompatible  with  his  elevated  condition.  If  Rienzi  had  lived 
in  our  own  age,  his  talents,  which  were  really  great,  would  have 
found  their  proper  orbit.  For  his  character  was  one  not 
unusual  among  literary  politicians  —  a  combination  of  knowl- 
edge, eloquence,  and  enthusiasm  for  ideal  excellence,  with 
vanity,  inexperience  of  mankind,  unsteadiness,  and  physical 
timidity.  As  these  latter  qualities  became  conspicuous,  they 
eclipsed  his  virtues  and  caused  his  benefits  to  be  forgotten ; 
he  was  compelled  to  abdicate  his  government,  and  retire  into 
exile.  After  several  years,  some  of  which  he  passed  in  the 
prisons  of  Avignon,  Rienzi  was  brought  back  to  Rome,  with 
the  title  of  Senator,  and  under  the  command  of  the  legate. 
It  was  supposed  that  the  Romans,  who  had  returned  to  their 
habits  of  insubordination,  would  gladly  submit  to  their  favor- 
ite tribune.  And  this  proved  the  case  for  a  few  months ;  but 
after  that  time  they  ceased  altogether  to  respect  a  man  who  so 
little  respected  himself  in  accepting  a  station  where  he  could 
no  longer  be  free ;  and  Rienzi  was  killed  in  a  sedition.-'^ 

Once  more,  not  long  after  the  death  of  Rienzi,  the  free- 
Subsequent     ^'^^^  *^^  Rome  seems  to  have  revived  in  republican 
affairs  of        institutions,  though  with  names  less  calculated  to 
°™®'  inspire  peculiar  recollections.     Magistrates  called 

1  Sismondi,  t.  v.  c.  37;  t.  vi.  p.  201  ;  the  reTolution  produced  by  Rienzi.   Gio- 

Gibbon,  c.  70;  De  Sade,  Viede  Petrarque,  vanni  A'illani,  living  at  Florence,  and  a 

t.  ii.  passim  ;  Tiraboschi,    t.   vi.   p.  339.  stanch  republican,  formed  a  very  differ- 

It   is   difiRcult   to   resist   the  admiration  ent  estimate,   which  weighs  more   than 

which  all  the  romantic  circumstances  of  the  enthusiastic  panegyrics  of  Petrarch. 

Rienzi's  history   tend   to   excite,  and  to  La  detta    impresa   del  tribuno  era   un' 

which    Petrarch    so   blindly   gave   way.  opera  fantastica,  e  di  poco  durare.    1.  xii. 

That  great   man's   cliaracteristic   excel-  c.  90.     An  illustrious  female  writer  has 

lence  was  not  good  common  sense.     He  drawn  with  a  single  stroke  the  character 

had  imbibed  two  notions,  of  which  it  is  of   Rienzi,   Crescentius,   and  Arnold  of 

hard  to  say  which  was  the  more  absurd  :  Brescia,  the  fond  restorers  of  Roman  Ub- 

that  Rome  had  a  legitimate  right  to  all  erty,  qui  out  pris  les  souvenirs  pour  les 

her  ancient  authority  over  the  rest  of  the  esperances.     Corinne,  t.  i.  p.  159.    Could 

world ;  and  that   she   was   likely  to  re-  Tacitus  have  excelled  this  ? 
cover  this  authority  in  consequence  of 


Italy.  AFFAIKS  OF  ROME.  403 

bannerets,  chosen  fi-om  the  thirteen  districts  of  (he  citv.  with 
a  militia  of  three  thoiisnnd  citizens  at  their  coininaiKl,  were 
jihu-ed  at  the  lieml  of  this  coiumonweahh,  Tlie  ^reat  oliject 
of  tins  new  orgjinization  was  to  intimidate  the  Roman  nobil- 
ity, who-e  ontrajres.  in  the  total  altsenee  of  goverinneiit.  Iiad 
grown  intolerahle.  Several  of  them  were  hanged  the  tirst 
year  by  order  of  the  hannerets.  The  citizens,  however,  had 
no  serious  intention  of  throwing  otf  their  allegiance  to  tlie 
pope*.  Tliey  provided  for  their  own  security,  on  account  of 
the  lainentahle  secession  and  neglect  of  those  who  claimed 
allegiance  while  they  denied  i»rotection.  But  they  were  ready 
to  acknowledge  ami  welcdine  hack  their  hi^hop  as  their  sov- 
ereign. Even  witiiout  this  they  surrciidered  tlieir  republican 
constitution  in  l.'3G2,  it  does  not  appear  for  what  reason,  and 
permitted  the  legate  of  Innocent  VI.  to  assume  the  govern- 
ment.* We  tind,  however,  the  institution  of  bannerets  re- 
vived and  in  full  authority  some  years  afterwards.  But  the 
internal  history  of  Rome  appears  to  be  obscure,  and  I  have 
not  had  opportunities  of  examining  it  niinnlelv.  Some  de- 
gree of  political  freedom  the  eity  proliably  eiijove<l  during 
the  schism  of  the  church ;  but  it  is  not  easy  to  discriminate 
the  as-iertion  of  legitimate  privileges  from  the  licentious 
tuiuult-J  of  the  l)arons  or  populace.  In  113.5  the  Romans 
formally  took  away  the  government  from  Eugenius  IV.,  and 
elected  seven  signiors  or  chief  magistrates,  like  the  priors 
of  Florence.^  But  this  revolution  was  not  of  long  continuance. 
On  the  death  of  Eugenius  tin-  citizens  deliljcrated  ujion  pro- 
]Ki»ing  a  constitutional  charter  to  the  future  pope.  Stephen 
Porcaro.  a  man  of  gcwKl  familv  and  inflamed  l>v  a  strong 
spirit  ot  liberty,  wius  one  of  their  princij)al  instigators.  But 
the  ]wop\e  did  not  suflTiciently  partake  of  that  spirit.  No 
mr-asures  were  t:ik<'n  u|ion  this  occasion;  and  Porcaro,  whose 
ardent  imagination  rlisguised  the  hopelessness  of  his  enter- 
|)ri»e.  tampering  in  a  fn'>h  conspiracy,  was  put  to  death  luider 
tlif  jK^mtificate  of  Nicholas  V.' 

The  provinee  of  Tu-eany  continued  longer  pj,;,,,  „f 
than  Ixiiibardy  undi-r  the  government  of  an  iin-  T'l-oi'iiy- 
p-rial  lientenaiit.     It  wjus  not  till  about  the  mid-  '"''""'""• 

1  M.tt.  VllUnl.  p.  676.  AM.  709;  m«-        «  Script.  Ilcrum  lUiUc.   t.   lU.   pars  2, 

Hi-  Mx-nw  U>  Imvo  p.  ]1'28. 
r  i«-ri<«l  of  ^.TiTii-        M<l.   p.    1131,  1134;    SlumouOl,   I.    x. 

i - ;-.  auJ  n-fom  tlii-lr  In-  p.  IH. 

■lUuUbii  Ut  1376. 


404  CITIES   OF  TUSCANY.     Chap.  III.  Part  II. 

die  of  the  twelfth  century  that  the  cities  of  Florence,  Lucca, 
Pisa,  Siena,  Arezzo,  Pistoja,  and  several  less  considerable 
which  might,  perhaps,  have  already  their  own  elected  magis- 
trates, became  independent  republics.  Their  history  is,  with 
the  exception  of  Pisa,  very  scanty  till  the  death  of  Frederic 
II.  The  earliest  fact  of  any  importance  recorded  of  Flor- 
ence occurs  in  1184,  when  it  is  said  that  Frederic  Barbarossa 
took  from  her  the  dominion  over  the  district  or  county,  and 
restored  it  to  the  rural  nobility,  on  account  of  her  attach- 
ment to  the  church.^  This  I  chiefly  mention  to  illustrate 
the  system  pursued  by  the  cities,  of  bringing  the  territorial 
proprietors  in  their  neighborhood  under  subjection.  During 
the  reign  of  Frederic  II.  Florence  became,  as  far  as  she  was 
able,  an  ally  of  the  popes.  There  was,  indeed,  a  strong 
Ghibelin  party,  comprehending  many  of  the  greatest  fami- 
lies, which  occasionally  predominated  through  the  assistance 
of  the  emperor.  It  seems,  however,  to  have  existed  chiefly 
among  the  nobility ;  the  spirit  of  the  people  was  thoroughly 
Guelf.  After  several  revolutions,  accompanied  by  alter- 
nate proscription  and  demolition  of  houses,  the  Guelf  party, 
through  the  assistance  of  Charles  of  Anjou,  obtained  a  final 
ascendency  in  1266;  and  after  one  or  two  unavailing  schemes 
of  accommodation  it  was  established  as  a  fundamental  law  in 
the  Florentine  constitution  that  no  person  of  Ghibelin  ances- 
try could  be  admitted  to  offices  of  public  trust,  which,  in  such 
a  government,  w^as  in  eflTect  an  exclusion  from  the  privileges 
of  citizenship. 

The  changes  of  internal  government  and  vicissitudes  of 
Government  succcss  among  factions  were  so  frequent  at  Flor- 
of  riorence.  g^^^  f^^.  jjjgj^y  years  after  this  time  that  she  is 
compared  by  her  great  banished  poet  to  one  in  sickness, 
who,  unable  to  rest,  gives  herself  momentary  ease  by  con- 
tinual change  of  posture  in  her  bed.^  They  did  not  become 
much  less  numerous  after  the  age  of  Dante.  Yet  the  revo- 
lutions of  Florence  should,  perhaps,  be  considered  as  no  more 
than  a  necessary  price  of  her  liberty.  It  was  her  boast  and 
her  happiness  to  have  escaped,  except  for  one  short  period, 
that  odious  rule  of  vile  usurpers,  under  which  so  many  other 
free  cities  had  been  crushed.     A  sketch  of  the  constitution 

1  ViUani,  1.  v.  c.  12.  Che  non  pu6   trovar  posa  in  su  le 

2  E  se  ben  ti  ricorrli,  e  vedi  11  lume,  plume, 

Vedral    te   somigUante  a  quella  in-  Ma  con  dar  volta  suo  dolorescherma. 

ferma,  Purgatorio,  cant.  vi. 


Italy.  GO'STRXJIEXT  OF   FLORENCE.  40 J 

of  -d  tainoiis  a  repuhlio  outrlit  not  to  he  omitted  in  this  place. 
Notliiiig  else  in  the  hi.story  of  Italy  after  Frederic  II.  is  so 
worthy  of  our  attention.' 

The  basis  of  the  Florentine  polity  was  a  division  of  the' 
citizens  exercising  comnierce  into  their  several  coni[)anies  or 
arts.  These  were  at  tirst  twelve  ;  seven  called  the  greater 
arts,  and  live  lesser ;  but  the  latter  were  gi'adually  increased 
to  fourteen.  The  seven  greater  arts  were  those  of  lawyers 
and  notaries,  of  dealers  in  titreign  cloth,  called  .sonietinies 
Caliniala.  of  bankers  or  money-changers,  of  woollen-drapers, 
of  physicians  and  druggists,  of  dealers  in  silk,  and  of  fur- 
riers. The  inferior  arts  were  those  of  retailers  of  cloth, 
butchers,  smiths,  shoemakers,  and  builders.  This  division, 
so  far  at  least  as  regarded  the  greater  arts,  was  as  old  as  the 
beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century.'^  But  it  was  fully 
established  and  rendered  essential  to  the  constitution  in  1206. 
By  the  provisions  made  in  that  year  each  of  the  seven  greater 
arts  had  a  council  of  its  own,  a  chief  magistrate  or  consul, 
who  administered  justice  in  civil  causes  to  all  members  of 
his  company,  and  a  banneret  (gonfaloniere)  or  military  offi- 
cer, to  whose  standard  they  repaired  when  any  attempt  was 
made  to  ilistiirb  tiie  peace  of  the  city. 

The  administration  of  criminal  justice  belonged  at  Flor- 
ence, as  at  other  cities,  to  a  foreign  ])odesta,  or  rather  to  two 
foreign  magistrates,  the  jtodesta  anil  the  capifano  did  popido, 
whose  juriMliction,  so  far  as  I  can  trace  it,  appears  to  have 
been  concurrent.*  In  the  tirst  part  of  the  thirteenth  century 
the  authority  of  the  podesta  may  have  been  more  extensive 
than  afterwards.  These  offices  were  preserved  till  the  in- 
novations of  the  Medici.  The  domestic  magistracies  under- 
went more  changes.  Instead  of  consuls,  which  had  been  the 
first  denomination  of  the  chief  magi>tiates  of  FloreMi-e,  a 
college  ot'  twelve  or  fourteen  perMins  eulled  Anziani  or  Buo- 
nuomini,  but  varying  in  name  as  well  as  number,  according 
to  revolutions  of  party,  was  established  al)out  the  middle  of 
the   thirteenth  century,  to  direct  public  atliiirs.^     This  order 

1  1   have  found  ronniilcrnhli-  'lifllcultipii  press  thoniHolvpn  nither  inaccuriitcly,  as 

in  tliut  part  of  uiy  tiwk ;   no  nutlior  with  If  Ui«y  hiid   licen  erwteil  at    timt    time, 

whom  I  Bin  a('i|iinint4s|  ({ivin({  iitolcnihlu  which  iiidwd  in  tlie  cm  of  their  politii-al 

t1<-w  of  thi"  Klon-ntini'   ^''vcrniinMit.  ex-  linportuncK. 

ri-pt    -M.    Si«iiioMdi,   who   in  hliuHolf  not  '  .M;itt<'o    Villiini.    p.    I'.M.     O.    Villiml 

»l»  I               ^     I'lry.  pliici'rt  the  in.Hlitiition  of  the  |)odi'rtti   iu 

•  \                     nd    «nn.    12(4   et    liVi.  r.i07 :    wi-   tliid    it.    howovi-r,  ii«  curly  an 

Vlll .!.•«.   1.   Til.  r.    i;i.  that  th(!  11K4.     Aninilnito. 

Brt»  •■xi«i<-d  n»  ''oiniiicn'iiil  ronipunii-n  \h-  <  U.  Villaid,  1.  vi.  o.  3U. 
fort-  12'>;.     .Miu-liiii\<'lli  and  SUuioudl  ex- 


406  GOVERNMENT   OF   FLORENCE.    Chap.  III.  Part.  H. 

was  entirely  changed  in  1282,  and  gave  j^lace  to  a  new  form 
of  supreme  magistracy,  which  lasted  till  the  extinction  of  the 
republic.  Six  priors,  elected  every  two  months,  one  from 
•  each  of  the  six  quarters  of  the  city,  and  from  each  of  the 
greater  arts,  except  that  of  lawyers,  constituted  an  executive 
magistracy.  They  lived  during  their  continuance  in  office 
in  a  palace  belonging  to  the  city,  and  were  maintained  at  the 
public  cost.  The  actual  priors,  jointly  with  the  chiefs  and 
councils  (usually  called  la  capitudiue)  of  the  seven  greater 
arts,  and  with  certain  adjuncts  (arroti)  named  by  themselves, 
elected  by  ballot  their  successors.  Such  was  the  practice 
for  about  forty  years  after  this  government  was  established. 
But  an  innovation,  begun  in  1324,  and  perfected  four  years 
afterwards,  gave  a  peculiar  character  to  the  constitution  of 
Florence.  A  lively  and  ambitious  people,  not  merely  jeal- 
ous of  their  public  sovereignty,  but  deeming  its  exercise  a 
matter  of  personal  enjoyment,  aware  at  the  same  time  that 
the  will  of  the  whole  body  could  neither  be  immediately  ex- 
pressed on  all  occasions,  nor  even  through  chosen  representa- 
tives, without  the  risk  of  violence  and  partiality,  fell  upon 
the  singular  idea  of  admitting  all  citizens  not  unworthy  by 
their  station  or  conduct  to  offices  of  magistracy  by  rotation. 
Lists  were  sepai'ately  made  out  by  the  priors,  the  twelve 
buonuomini,  the  chiefs  and  councils  of  arts,  the  bannei'ets 
and  other  respectable  persons,  of  all  citizens,  Guelfs  by 
origin,  turned  of  thirty  years  of  age,  and,  in  their  judgment, 
worthy  of  public  trust.  The  lists  thus  formed  were  then 
united,  and  those  who  had  composed  them,  meeting  together,  in 
number  ninety-seven,  proceeded  to  ballot  upon  every  name. 
Whoever  obtained  sixty-eight  black  balls  was  placed  upon 
the  reformed  list ;  and  all  the  names  it  contained,  being  put 
on  separate  tickets  into  a  bag  or  purse  (imborsati),  were 
drawn  successively  as  the  magistracies  were  renewed.  As 
there  were  above  fifty  of  these,  none  of  which  could  be  held 
for  more  than  four  months,  several  hundred  citizens  were 
called  in  rotation  to  bear  their  share  in  the  government  with- 
in two  years.  But  at  the  expiration  of  every  two  years  the 
scrutiny  was  renewed,  and  fresh  names  were  mingled  with 
those  which  still  continued  undrawn ;  so  that  accident  might 
deprive  a  man  for  life  of  his  portion  of  magistracy.-' 

1  Villani,  1.  ix.  c.  27, 1.  x.  c.  110,  1.  xi.  an  apparent  fairness  and  incompatibil- 
c.  105;  Sismondi,  t.  v.  p.  174.  This  spe-  itj-  flith  undue  influence,  was  speedily 
cies  of   lottery,  recommending  itself  by    adopted  in  all  the  neighboring  republics, 


Italy.  GOVERNMENT   OF  FLORENCE.  407 

Four  councils  luid  been  e.'^tablished  by  the  constitution  of 
12G(J  lor  the  decision  of  Jill  j)roi)ositions  laid  before  llieiu  by 
the  executive  magistrates,  whether  of  a  legishxtive  nature  or 
rehiting  to  public  policy.  These  were  now  abrogated ;  antl 
in  their  placi-s  were  sul)stituted  one  of  300  members,  all  ple- 
beians, callcil  consiglio  di  i)0[)olo,  and  one  of  '2oO,  called  con- 
siglio  di  commune,  into  which  tiie  nobles  might  enter.  These 
were  changed  by  the  same  rotation  as  the  magistracies,  every 
foiu-  months.^  A  piu'liament,  or  general  assembly  of  the 
Florentine  people,  was  rarely  convoked ;  but  the  leading 
principle  of  a  democratical  republic,  the  ultimate  sovereignty 
of  the  multitude,  was  not  forgotten.  This  constitution  of 
132-t  was  fixed  by  the  citizens  at  large  in  a  parliament ;  and 
the  same  sanction  was  given  to  those  temporary  delegations 
of  the  signiory  to  a  prince,  which  occasionally  took  place. 
What  is  technically  culled  by  their  hislov'iims  jars i  poj)ulo  was 
the  assembly  of  a  parliament,  or  a  resolution  of  all  deriv- 
ative powers  into  the  immediate  operation  of  the  popular 
will. 

The  ancient  government  of  this  republic  appears  to  have 
been  chiefly  in  the  hands  of  its  nobility.  These  were  very 
niunerous,  and  possessed  large  estates  in  the  district.  But  by 
the  constitution  of  120(5,  which  was  nearly  coincident  with 
the  triumph  of  the  Guelf  faction,  the  essential  powers  of 
magistracy  as  well  as  of  legislation  were  thrown  into  the 
scale  of  the  commons.  The  colleges  of  arts,  whose  functions 
bec;ime  so  emint-nt,  were  altogether  commercial.  Many,  in- 
deed, of  the  nobles  enrolled  themselves  in  these  companies, 
and  were  among  the  most  conspicut)us  merchants  of  Flor- 
ence. The<e  Were  not  excluded  from  the  executive  college 
of  the  priors  at  its  first  in.stitution  in  1282.  It  was  neces- 
sar)',  ho\v(,'ver,  to  be-long  to  one  or  other  of  the  greater  arts  in 
order  to  reju-h  that  magistracy.  The  majority,  therefore,  of 
the  ancient  families  saw  themselves  jjushed  aside  from  the 
helm,  whii'h  was  intrusted  to  a  class  whom  they  had  habitu- 
allv  lnM  in  contempt. 

it  iloL-s  n(jt  appear  that  the  nobility  made  any  overt  oppo- 
Bition  to  these  democratical  institutions.     Confident  in  a  force 


anil  hnji  alwnyi  rontlnued,  ruronlinK  to     tho  privilppe  of  choosing  tlu-ir  municipal 
t<lj<Mioii<ll.  in  Lucca,   itml   in  Hiuhc  citicH     olflccrH ;  p, '.)5. 

of  tUo  fcclei.liutical  aUitc  wliidi  preHcrvea         '  Villani.  1.  Ix.  c.  27,  1.  x.  c.  110,  I.  xl. 

c.  10.0;  SL'^uioiidi,  t.  v.  p.  174 


408  GOVERNMENT  OF  FLORENCE.    Chap.  III.  Part  II. 

beyond  the  law,  they  cared  less  for  what  the  law  might  pro- 
vide against  them.  They  still  retained  the  proud  spirit  of 
personal  independence  which  had  belonged  to  their  ancestors 
in  the  fastnesses  of  the  Apennines.  Though  the  laws  of 
Florence  and  a  change  in  Italian  customs  had  trans2:)lant- 
ed  their  residence  to  the  city,  it  was  in  strong  and  lofty  houses 
that  they  dwelt,  among  their  kindred,  and  among  the  fellows 
of  their  rank.  Notwithstanding  the  tenor  of  the  constitution, 
Florence  was  for  some  years  after  the  establishment  of  priors 
incapable  of  resisting  the  violence  of  her  nobility.  Her  his- 
torians all  attest  the  outrages  and  assassinations  committed  by 
them  on  the  inferior  people.  It  was  in  vain  that  justice  was 
offered  by  the  podesta  and  the  capitano  del  popolo.  Wit- 
nesses dared  not  to  appear  against  a  noble  offender ;  or  if,  on 
a  complaint,  the  officer  of  justice  arrested  the  accused,  his 
family  made  common  cause  to  rescue  their  kinsman,  and  the 
populace  rose  in  defence  of  the  laws,  till  the  city  was  a  scene 
of  tumult  and  bloodshed.  I  have  ali-eady  alluded  to  this  in- 
subordination of  the  higher  classes  as  general  in  the  Italian 
republics  ;  but  the  Florentine  writers,  being  fuller  than  the 
rest,  are  our  best  specific  testimonies.^ 

The  dissensions  between  the  patrician  and  plebeian  orders 

,„„,        ran  very  high,  when  Giano  della  Bella,  a  man  of 
A.D.  1295.  .       •',.    °  1  ,1        .  ,  ,  .  . 

ancient  hneage,  but  attached,   without  ambitious 

views,  so  far  as  appears,  though  not  without  passion,  to  the 
poj)ular  side,  introduced  a  series  of  enactme)its  exceedingly 
disadvantageous  to  the  ancient  aristocracy.  The  first  of 
these  was  tlie  appointment  of  an  executive  officer,  the  gonfa- 
lonier of  justice,  whose  duty  it  was  to  enforce  the  sentences 
of  the  podesta  and  capitiino  del  popolo  in  cases  where  the  or- 
dinary officers  were  insufficient.  A  thousand  citizens,  after- 
wards increased  to  four  tunes  that  number,  were  bound  to 
obey  his  commands.  They  were  distributed  into  companies, 
the  gonfaloniers  or  captains  of  which  became  a  sort  of  cor- 
poration or  college,  and  a  constituent  part  of  the  government. 
A  D  1295  This  new  militia  seems  to  have  superseded  that 
of  the  companies  of  arts,  which  I  have  not  ob- 
served to  be  mentioned  at  any  later  period.  The  gonfalonier 
of  justice  was  part  of  the  signiory  along  with  the  priors,  of 
whom  he  was  reckoned  the  president,  and  changed,  like  them, 

1  Villani,   1.   vii.  o  .   113,   1.   viii.   c.   8j   Ammirato,   Storia  Fiorentina,  1.   iv.  in 
comiaciamento. 


Italy.  GOVERNMENT  OF  FLORENCE.  409 

every  two  months.  He  was,  in  fact,  the  first  niajiistratc  of 
Florence.^  If  Giuno  delhi  Bella  had  trusted  tu  the  ellieaey 
of  this  new  security  for  justice,  his  fame  wouUl  have  been 
beyond  reproach.  But  he  followed  it  up  by  harsher  pro- 
visions. The  nobility  were  now  made  absolutely  ineligible 
to  the  oflice  of  prior.  For  an  offence  committed  by  one  of  a 
noble  family,  his  relations  were  declared  responsible  in  a 
])fnalty  of  ."'{••(lO  pound-.  And,  to  obviate  the  difiiculty  aris- 
ing from  the  fre([uent  intimidation  of  witnesses,  it  was  pro- 
vided that  common  fame,  attested  by  two  credible  persons, 
should  be  suflicient  for  the  condemnation  of  a  nobleman.'^ 

These  are  the  famous  ordinances  of  justice  which  passed 
at  Florence  for  the  great  charter  of  her  democracy.  They 
ha\e  been  rei)robated  in  later  times  as  scandalously  unjust ; 
and  I  have  little  inclination  to  defend  them.  The  last,  espe- 
cially, was  a  violation  of  those  eternal  principles  which  for- 
bid us,  for  any  calculations  of  advantage,  to  risk  the  sacrifice 
of  innocent  blood.  But  it  is  imi)ossible  not  to  perceive  that 
the  .-iame  unjust  severity  has  sometimes,  under  a  like  pretext 
of  necessity,  been  applied  to  the  weaker  classes  of  the  peo- 
ple, which  they  were  in  this  instance  able  to  exercise  towards 
their  natural  superiors. 

The  nobility  were  soon  aware  of  the  i)Osition  in  which 
they  stootl.  For  half  a  century  their  great  object  was  to 
j)rocure  the  relaxation  of  the  onlinauces  of  justice.  But 
they  had  no  success  with  an  elated  enemy.  In  three  years' 
time,  indeed,  Giano  della  Bella,  the  author  of  these  institu- 
tion.s,  was  driven  into  exile;  a  conspicuous,  though  by  no 
mean-  singular.  ])roof  of  Florentine  ingratitude.^  The  wealth 
and  pliv^-ical  .-treiigtii  of  the  n(»l)les  were,  however,  untouched  ; 
and  their  influence  must  always  have  been  considerable.  In 
the  great  feuds  of  the  Bianchi  and  Xeri  the  ancient  families 
were  most  distingui>hed.  Xo  man  plays  a  greater  part  in  the 
annals  of  Florence  at  the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth  century 

>  It  Ui   to   be    regretted    that   the   ac-  ({onfaloniere   di  touf'ti!'-i'i,  il   popolo  e   |1 

r'imiilljitifd   MopraphiT    of    Ix>renzo    de'  coiiiuiic  di-lla  citti  di  Fireuzo.  U.  Villani, 

Mclirl  iilixuM    hare  Liken    no    pnins   to  I.  xii.  r.  ID'J. 

liifonii  liiniN-ir  of  the  iMo^t  ordinary  pur-  -  Villaiii,  1.  viii.   c.    1;    Amniinito,   p. 

tirul:ir«  in  tlio  ront-titution  of  Klon-iico.  188,   edit.    1047.      A   nia(,'i''trat<>,    called 

Auiong  many  ritlier  errom  lie  miyn,  Tol.  U.  1'  CHocutor  della  niusti/.ia,  wan  appointed 

i>.  51.  6Ui  edit.,  that   the  Konfalonier   of  with  anthority  eijual   to   that  of  the  po- 

Jui'ti'-e  WN«  KulHirdinato  to  the  deleKnted  denti  for  the  xpeci.il  purpone  of  WHtrlilng 

Ui.                     1    haij   expreMion),  or  priori  over  the  oliHervation  of  the  onlinancen  of 

d"-                     M- nunitjer,  t<jo,  heaiiionentjt  juittiie.     Amniinito,  p.  litW. 

to  li'M        i  UI'  profMT  Ktyle  of  the  npulilic  ^  Villani,  I.  viii.  c.  O. 
•wuu  to  ruu   tlius:  1  priori  deli'  urti  u 


410  GOVERNMENT  OF  FLOEENCE.    Chap.  III.  Part  II. 

than  Corso  Donati,  chief  of  the  latter  faction,  who  might  pass 
as  representative  of  the  turbulent,  intrepid,  ambitious  citizen- 
noble  of  an  Italian  republic.-^  But  the  laws  gradually  be- 
came more  sure  of  obedience  ;  the  sort  of  proscription  which 
attended  the  ancient  nobles  lowered  their  spirit ;  while  a  new 
aristocracy  began  to  raise  its  head,  the  aristoci'acy  of  families 
who,  after  filling  the  highest  magistracies  for  two  or  three 
generations,  obtained  an  hereditary  importance,  which  an- 
swered the  purpose  of  more  unequivocal  nobility ;  just  as  in 
ancient  Rome  plebeian  families,  by  admission  to  curule  of- 
fices, acquired  the  character  and,  appellation  of  nobiUty,  and 
were  only  distinguishable  by  their  genealogy  from  the  origi- 
nal patricians.^  Florence  had  her  plebeian  nobles  (popolani 
grandi),  as  well  as  Rome  ;  the  Peruzzi,  the  Ricci,  the  Albizi, 
the  Medici,  correspond  to  the  Catos,  the  Pompeys,  the  Bru- 
tuses,  and  the  Antonies.  But  at  Rome  the  two  orders,  after  an 
equal  partition  of  the  highest  offices,  were  content  to  respect 
their  mutual  privileges ;  at  Florence  the  commoner  preserved  a 
rigorous  monopoly,  and  the  distinction  of  high  birth  was,  that 
it  debarred  men  from  political  franchises  and  civil  justice.^ 

This  second  aristocracy  did  not  obtain  much  more  of  the 
popular  affection  than  that  which  it  superseded.  Public  out- 
rage and  violation  of  law  became  less  frequent ;  but  the  new 
leaders  of  Florence  are  accused  of  continual  misgovernment 
at  home  and  abroad,  and  sometimes  of  peculation.  There 
was  of  course  a  sti-ong  antipathy  between  the  leading  com- 
moners and  the  ancient  nobles ;  both  were  disliked  by  the 
people.  In  order  to  keep  the  nobles  under  more  control  the 
governing  party  more  than  once  introduced  a  new  foreign 
magistrate,  with  the  title  of  captain  of  defence  (della  guar- 
dia),  whom  they  invested  with  an  almost  unbounded  criminal 
A.D.  1336.  jurisdiction.  One  Gabrielli  of  Agobbio  was  twice 
A.D.  1340.  fetched  for  this  purpose ;  and  in  each  case  he  be- 
haved in  so  tyrannical  a  manner  as  to  occasion  a  tumult.* 
His  office,  however,  was  of  short  duration,  and  the  title  at 
least  did  not  import  a  sovereign  command.     But  very  soon 

1  Dino  Compagtii :  VQlani.  i-  la  Fiorentina  nobiliti.   Ammirato  delle 

2  La  nobiliti  civile,  .se  bene  non  in  Famiglie  Fiorentiue.  Firenze,  1614,  p.  25. 
baronaggi,  e  capace  di  grandissimi  honori,  ^  Quello,  che  all'  altre  citti  suolo 
percioche  esei-eitando  i  supremi  uiagis-  recai'e  splendore,  in  Fircnzc  era  danuopo, 
trati  della  sua  patria,  viene  spesso  a  o  veramente  vano  e  inutile,  says  Am- 
comandare  a  capitani  d'  eserciti  e  ella  niirato  of  nobility.  Storia  Fiorentina, 
Btessa  per  se  6  in  mare,  6  in  terra,  niolte  p.  161. 

Tota  i  supremi  carichi  adopera.    E  tale        *  Villani,  1.  xi.  c.  39  and  11". 


Italy.  GOVERNMENT  OF  FLORENCE.  411 

afterwards  Florence  h;ul  to  experience  one  ta>te  of  a  enp 
■which  her  neiirhljors  had  drunk  oil"  to  the  dreg;*,  and  to  ani- 
mate her  uiagnaninious  love  of  freedom  by  a  knowledge  of 
the  calamities  of  t\Tainiy. 

A  war  with  Pisa,  luisuecessfnlly,  if  not  uuskiUully,  con- 
ducted, gave  rise  to  such  dissatisfaction  in  the  city,  that  the 
leading  commoners  had  recourse  to  an  appointment  some- 
thing like  that  of  Gabrielli.  and  from  similar  motives. 
Waiter  de  Brieime,  duke  of  Alliens,  was  descended  fn)m  one 
of  the  French  crusaders  who  had  dismembered  the  Grecian 
empire  in  the  preceding  century ;  but  his  father,  defeated 
in  battle,  had  lost  the  princijjality  along  with  his  life,  and  tlie 
titular  duke  was  an  adventurer  in  the  court  of  France.  He 
had  been,  however,  slightly  known  at  Florence  on  a  former 
occasion.  Tiiere  was  an  iniilbrm  maxim  among  the  Italian 
re[)ublics  that  extraordinary  powers  should  be  conferred 
upon  none  but  strangers.  The  duke  of  Athens  was  accord- 
ingly pitched  upon  for  the  military  conmiand,  which  was 
united  with  domestic  jurisdiction.  This  ai)pears  to  have 
been  promoted  by  the  governing  party  in  order  to  curb  the 
noljility ;  but  they  were  soon  undeceived  in  their  expecta- 
tions. The  first  act  of  the  duke  of  Athens  \vas  to  bring  four 
of  the  mo.-t  eminent  connnoners  to  cai)ital  i)unishment  for 
military  offences.  These  sentences,  whether  just  or  other- 
wise, gave  much  pleasure  to  the  nobles,  who  had  so  frecpiently 
been  expo-ed  to  similar  severity,  and  to  the  popuhice,  who 
are  naturally  pleased  with  the  humiliation  of  their  superiors. 
Both  of  these  were  caressed  by  the  duke,  and  both  conspired, 
with  blind  ])assion,  to  second  his  ambitious  views.  It  was 
proposed  and  carried  in  a  full  parliament,  or  assembly  of  the 
people,  to  bestow  upon  him  the  signiory  for  Ufe.  The  real 
friends  of  their  country,  as  well  as  the  oligarchy, 
shuddered  at  this  measure.  Throughout  all  the 
vicis.-itudes  of  ])arty  Florence  had  never  yet  lost  sight  of 
rejiublicau  institutions.  Not  that  she  had  never  accoinmo- 
datid  herself  to  temporary  circumstances  by  naming  a 
eignior.  Cliarles  of  Anjou  had  been  invested  with  that  dig- 
nity for  tiie  term  of  ten  years;  Kobert  king  of  Naples  for 
fiv«; ;  and  his  son,  the  duke  of  Calabria,  was  at  his  death 
signior  of  Florenc*-.  Tiiese  jtrinces  named  tlie  poilcsla,  if 
not  the  priors;  and  were  certainly  pretty  absolute  in  their 
executive   powers,  though  bound  by  oatii  not   to   alter   the 


412  GOVERNMENT  OF  FLORENCE.    Chap.  III.  Part  II. 

Statutes  of  the  city.^  But  tlieir  office  had  always  been  tem- 
porary. Like  the  dictatorship  of  Rome,  it  was  a  confessed, 
unavoidable  evil ;  a  suspension,  but  not  extinguishment,  of 
rights.  Like  that,  too,  it  was  a  dangerous  precedent, 
through  which  crafty  ambition  and  popular  rashness  might 
ultimately  subvert  the  republic.  If  Walter  de  Brienne  had 
possessed  the  subtle  prudence  of  a  Matteo  Visconti  or  a  Cane 
della  Scala,  there  appears  no  reason  to  suppose  that  Florence 
Avould  have  escaped  the  fate  of  other  cities ;  and  her  history 
might  have  become  as  useless  a  record  of  pei*fidy  and  assas- 
sination as  that  of  Mantua  or  Verona.^ 

But,  happily  for  Florence,  the  reign  of  tyranny  was  very 
short.  The  duke  of  Athens  had  neither  judgment  nor 
activity  for  so  difficult  a  station.  He  launched  out  at  once 
into  excesses  which  it  would  be  desirable  that  arbitrary  power 
should  always  commit  at  the  outset.  The  taxes  were  consid- 
erably increased ;  their  produce  was  dissipated.  The  honor 
of  the  state  was  sacrificed  by  an  inglorious  treaty  with  Pisa ; 
her  territory  was  diminished  by  some  towns  throwing  off 
their  dependence.  Severe  and  multiplied  punishments  spread 
terror  through  the  city.  The  noble  families,  who  had  on  the 
duke's  election  destroyed  the  ordinances  of  justice,  now 
found  themselves  exposed  to  the  more  partial  caprice  of  a 
despot.  He  filled  the  magistracies  with  low  creatures  from 
the  inferior  artificers ;  a  class  which  he  continued  to  flatter.^ 
Ten  months  passed  in  this  manner,  when  three  separate  con- 
spiracies, embracing  most  of  the  nobihty  and  of  the  great 
commoners,  were  planned  for  the  recovery  of  freedom.  The 
duke  was  protected  by  a  strong  body  of  hired  cavalry. 
Revolutions  in  an  Italian  city  were  generally  effected  by 
surprise.  The  streets  were  so  narrow  and  so  easily  secured 
by  barricades,  that,  if  a  people  had  time  to  stand  on  its 
defence,  no  cavalry  was  of  any  avail.  On  the  other  hand,  a 
body  of  lancers  in  plate-armor  might  dissipate  any  number 
of  a  disorderly  populace.  Accordingly,  if  a  prince  or  usurper 
would  get  possession  by  surprise,  he,  as  it  was  called,  rode  the 
city ;  that  is,  galloped  with  his  cavalry  along  the  streets,  so 
as  to  prevent  the  people  from  collecting  to  erect  barricades. 
This  expression  is  very  usual  with  historians  of  the  four- 
teenth century.^      The  conspirators  at    Florence  were  too 

1  ViUani,  1.  ix.  c.  55,  60,  135,  328.  3  Villani,  c.  8. 

2  Id.  1.  xii.  c.  1,  2,  3.  *  Villani,  1.  x.  c.  81;  Castruccio  .  .  , 


Italy.  GOVERNMENT  OF   FLORENCE.  41.) 

quick  ft)r  the  duke  of  Atlien.-;.  The  city  was  barricaded  in 
every  direct iou ;  and  after  a  contest  of  some  duration  he 
consented  to  abdicate  his  signiory. 

Thus  Florence  recovered  her  liberty.  Her  constitutional 
laws  now  seemed  to  revive  of  themselves.  But  the  iiol)ility, 
who  had  taken  a  very  active  part  in  the  recent  liberation  of 
their  country,  thou<rht  it  hanl  to  be  still  [daced  under  the 
rigorous  ordinances  of  justice.  Many  of  the  richer  eom- 
niDuers  acquiesced  in  an  equitable  partition  of  magistracies, 
which  was  established  through  the  inlluence  of  the  bishop. 
But  the  jHipulace  of  Florence,  with  its  characteristic  forget- 
fulness  of  benefits,  was  tt-naciuus  of  those  proscriptive  ordi- 
nances. The  nobles  too,  elated  by  their  success,  began  again 
to  strike  and  injure  the  inferior  citizens.  A  new  civil  war 
in  the  city-streets  decided  tlieir  (piarrel ;  after  a  desperate 
resistance  many  of  the  principal  houses  were  pillaged  and 
burned  ;  and  the  perpetual  exclusion  of  the  nobility  was 
contirmed  by  fresh  laws.  But  the  jjcople,  now  sure  of  their 
triunqili,  relaxed  a  little  upon  this  occasion  the  ordinances  of 
justice ;  and  to  make  some  distinction  in  favor  of  merit  or 
innocence,  effaced  certain  families  from  the  list  of  nobility. 
Five  Innuked  and  thirty  persons  were  thus  elevated,  as  we 
may  call  it,  to  the  rank  of  connnoners.^  As  it  was  beyond 
the  competence  of  the  republic  of  Florence  to  change  a  man's 
ancestors,  this  nominal  alteration  left  all  the  real  advantages 
of  birth  as  they  were,  and  was  undoubtedly  an  enhancement 
of  dignity,  though,  in  ai)])earance,  a  very  singular  one. 
Converselv,  several  unpopular  coMimoni'rs  were  ennobled,  in 
order  to  disfranchise  them.  Nothing  was  more  usual  in  sub- 
sequent times  than  such  an  arbitrary  change  of  rank,  as  a 
penalty  or  a  benefit.'*  Those  nobles  who  were  rendered 
plebeian  by  favor,  were  obliged  to  change  their  name  and 
arms.*  The  constitution  now  iniderwent  some  change. 
From  six  the  priors  were  increased  to  eight  ;    and  instead 

corw  1a  citti  <li    PUa  dac  rolte.      Sin-  euch  in  tlipordiiuiiircs  of  jiistici';  nf  least 

momli.  t.  T.  p.  U)5.  I    <)i>   ii<<t    know    wlmt   iitlivr    di-tiuition 

I  Vllliini.    I.    xll.   r.    lH-2.3.       Sininnnill  tlnTf  \v(i«. 

MVK.  l>y   a   nionii-ntary   ovcrniclit.   <"lnci  '•'  McHscr  Antonio  di  natilinnrcii)  di'Kli 

cent  trvnU-  /niHi«'<,  t.y.  \>   377.     There  Adiiimri,  tiitto  clii;  fosse  du  pii'i  );niiidi  e 

were   liut  tiiirty-w-ven   noble  fnniilies  at  nnbili,  piT  t'ni/.iii  cm  mexso  trii  "1  iiopolo. 

Florence,   ax    M.    Hlnmondl    hiniwlf    in-  —  Villani.  1.  xii.  c.  108. 

fi.rni*  iiK.  t.   It.   |i.    W  :   tliouKh    Villiml  •' Aniiiiinito.  ji.  74K.    Tln-re  were  sevenil 

ri-<'k<iitji    ttie    nuniU-r   of    IndivldiiaU   at  exei'ptioiis   to  this    rule    In    later    times. 

lfyi*t.       Xol/les,    or    frnn'li    ad    they  ar«  The  I'azzi  were  made  popolnni.  pli'lielans, 

Diore   utri'tly   railed,  were   such  an  had  hy  favor  of  Cosmo  du'  Medici.     Muchia- 

twvu  liucribc-d,  or  rattier  pruocribed,  aji  vcUi. 


414  go"vt:rx:hent  of  Florence.  Chap.  hi.  part  ii, 

of  being  chosen  from  each  of  the  greater  arts,  they  were 
taken  from  the  four  quarters  of  the  city,  the  lesser  artisans, 
as  I  conceive,  being  admissible.  The  gonfaloniers  of  compa- 
nies were  reduced  to  sixteen.  And  these,  along  with  the 
signiory,  and  the  twelve  buonuomini,  formed  the  college, 
where  every  proposition  was  discussed  before  it  could  be 
offered  to  the  councils  for  their  legislative  sanction.  But  it 
could  only  originate,  strictly  speaking,  in  the  signiory,  that  is, 
the  gonfalonier  of  justice,  and  eight  priors,  the  rest  of  the 
college  having   merely  the  function   of  advice   and   assist- 


ed 
ance.-' 


Several  years  elapsed  before  any  material  disturbance  arose 
at  Florence.  Her  contemporary  historian  complains,  indeed, 
that  mean  and  ignorant  persons  obtained  the  office  of  prior, 
and  ascribes  some  errors  in  her  external  policy  to  this  cause.^ 
Besides  the  natural  effects  of  the  established  rotation,  a  par- 
ticular law,  called  the  divieto,  tended  to  throw  the  better 
families  out  of  juiblic  office.  By  this  law  two  of  the  same 
name  could  not  be  drawn  for  any  magistracy :  which,  as  the 
ancient  families  were  extremely  numerous,  rendered  it  diffi- 
cult for  their  members  to  succeed ;  especially  as  a  ticket  once 
drawn  was  not  replaced  in  the  purse,  so  that  an  individual 
liable  to  the  divieto  was  excluded  until  the  next  biennial  rev- 
olution.^ This  created  dissatisfaction  among  the  leading 
families.  They  were  likewise  divided  by  a  new  faction, 
entirely  founded,  as  far  as  appears,  on  personal  animosity 
between  two  prominent  houses,  the  Albizi  and  the  Ricci. 
The  city  was,  however,  tranquil,  when  in  1357  a  spring  was 
set  in  motion  which  gave  quite  a  different  character  to  the 
domestic  history  of  Florence. 

At  the  time  when  the  Guelfs,  with  the  assistance  of 
Charles  of  Anjou,  acquired  an  exclusive  domination  in  the 
republic,  the  estates  of  the  Ghibelins  were  confiscated. 
One  third  of  these  confiscations  was  allotted  to  the  state ; 
another  went  to  repair  the  losses  of  Guelf  citizens ;  but  the 
remainder  became  the  property  of  a  new  corporate  society, 
denominated  the  Guelf  ]iarty  (parte  Guelfa),  with  a  regular 
internal  organization.  The  Guelf  party  had  two  councils, 
one  of  fourteen  and  one  of  sixty  members ;  three,  or  after- 

1  Nardi,  Storia  di  Firenze,  p.  7,  edit.        2  Matteo  Villani  in  Script.  Rer.  Italic. 
1584.     Villani,  loc.  cit.  t.  xiv.  p.  98.  244. 

3  Sismondi,  t.  ri.  p.  338. 


Italy.  GOVERNMENT  OF  FLORENCE.  415 

wards  four,  captains,  elected  by  scrutiny  e\ery  two  months,  a 
treasury,  and  common  seixl ;  a  little  republic  within  the  repub- 
lic of  Florence.  Tiieir  primary  duty  was  to  watch  over  the 
Guelf  interest  ;  and  for  this  pur[)ose  they  had  a  particular 
otHcer  for  the  accusation  of  suspected  Ghibelins.^  "We  hear 
not  much,  however,  of  the  Guelf  society  for  near  a  century 
alter  tiieir  establishment.  The  Gliibelins  hardly  ventured 
to  show  themselves  after  the  fall  of  the  Wliite  Guelfs  in 
1304,  with  whom  they  had  been  connected,  and  confiscation 
hail  almost  annihilated  that  unfortunate  faction.  But  as  the 
oligarcliy  of  Guelf  tamilies  lost  part  of  its  influence  through 
the  divieto  and  system  of  lottery,  some  persons  of  Gliibelin 
descent  crept  into  public  offices ;  and  this  was  exaggerated 
by  the  zealots  of  an  opposite  party,  as  if  the  fundamental 
policy  of  tiie  city  was  put  into  danger. 

The  Guelf  society  had  begun,  as  early  as  1346,  to  mani- 
fest some  disquietude  at  the  foreign  artisans,  who,  settling  at 
Florence  and  becoming  members  of  some  of  the  tradiu";  cor- 
porations,  pretended  to  superior  offices.  They  procured  ac- 
cordingly a  law  excluding  from  public  trust  and  magistracy 
all  persons  not  being  natives  of  the  city  or  its  territory. 
2sext  year  they  advanced  a  step  farther;  and,  with  a  view  to 
prevent  disorder,  which  seemed  to  threaten  the  city,  a  law 
was  i>asse(l  declaring  every  one  whose  ancestors  at  any  time 
since  13U0  had  been  known  Gliibelins,  or  who  had  not  the 
reputation  of  sound  Guelf  principles,  incapable  of  being 
drawn  or  elected  to  offices.-  It  is  manifest  from  the  lansxuacre 
of  tlie  historian  who  relates  these  circumstances,  and  whose 
testimony  is  more  remarkalile  from  his  having  died  several 
years  before  the  j)olitics  of  the  Guelf  corporation  more 
decidedly  showed  thems<*lves,  that  the  real  cause  of  their 
jealou.-y  was  not  the  increase  of  Ghibelinism,  a  merely 
plausible  pretext,  but  the  democratical  character  which  the 
government  had  assumed  since  the  revolution  of  1343  ;  which 
raised  the  fourt<M-n  inferior  arts  to  the  level  of  those  which 
the  great  merchants  of  Florence  exercised.  In  the  Guelf 
society  the  ancient  nobles  retained  a  considerable  influence. 
Tiie  laws  <jf  exclusion  had  never  been  ajiplied  to  that  corpo- 
ra! i(jn.  Two  of  the  captiiins  were  always  noble,  two  were 
commoners.     The  people,  in  debarring  the  nobility  from  ordi- 

«  0.  VUlanl,  1.  Til.  c.  16.  «  0.  VUlanl,  1.  xU.  c.  72  and  79. 


416  GOVERNMENT  OF  FLORENCE.    Chap.  III.  Part  II. 

nary  privileges,  were  little  aware  of  the  more  dangerous  chan- 
nel which  had  been  left  open  to  their  ambition.  With  the  no- 
biUty  some  of  the  great  commoners  acted  in  concert,  and  espe- 
cially the  family  and  faction  of  the  Albizi.  The  introduction 
of  obscure  persons  into  oifice  stiU  continued,  and  some  meas- 
ures more  vigorous  than  the  law  of  1347  seemed  necessary 
to  restore  the  influence  of  their  aristocracy.  They  proposed, 
and,  notwithstanding  the  reluctance  of  the  priors,  carried  by 
violence,  both  in  the  preliminary  deliberations  of  the  signiory 
and  in  the  two  councils,  a  law  by  which  every  person  ac- 
cepting an  office  who  should  be  convicted  of  Gliibelinism  or 
of  Ghibelin  descent,  upon  testimony  of  public  fame,  became 
liable  to  punishment,  capital  or  jjecuniary,  at  the  discretion 
of  the  priors.  To  this  law  they  gave  a  retrospective  effect, 
and  indeed  it  appears  to  have  been  little  more  than  a  revival 
of  the  provisions  made  in  1347,  which  had  probably  been 
disregarded.  Many  citizens  who  had  been  magistrates  with- 
in a  few  years  were  cast  in  heavy  fines  on  this  indefinite 
charge.  But  the  more  usual  practice  was  to  warn  (am- 
monire)  men  beforehand  against  undertaking  public  trust. 
If  they  neglected  this  hint,  they  were  sure  to  be  treated  as 
convicted  Ghibelins.  Thus  a  very  numerous  class,  called 
Ammoniti,  was  formed  of  proscribed  and  discontented  per- 
sons, eager  to  throw  off  the  intolerable  yoke  of  the  Guelf 
society.  For  the  imputation  of  Ghibelin  connections  was 
generally  an  unfounded  pretext  for  crushing  the  enemies  of 
the  governing  faction.-^  Men  of  approved  Guelf  principles 
and  origin  were  every  day  warned  from  their  natural  privi- 
leges of  sharing  in  magistracy.  This  spread  an  universal 
alarm  through  the  city  ;  but  the  great  advantage  of  union  and 
secret  confederacy  rendei'cd  the  Guelf  society,  who  had  also 
the  law  on  their  side,  irresistible  by  their  opponents.  Mean- 
while the  public  honor  was  well  supported  abroad ;  Florence 
had  never  before  been  so  distinguished  as  during  the  preva- 
lence of  this  oligarchy.'^ 

1  Besides    the    effect  of  ancient    pre-  Villani  says  of  Passerine,  lord  of  Mantua, 

judice,   Ghibelinism   was    considered  at  that  his  ancestors  had  been  Guelfs,  ma 

Florence,  in  the  fourteenth   century,  as  per  essere  signore  e  tiranno  si  fece  Ghib- 

immediately  connected   with  tyrannical  ellino :  1.  x.  c.  99.     And  Matteo  Villani 

usurpation.  The  Guelf  party,  says  Matteo  of  the  Pepoli  at  Bologna;  essendo  di  na- 

Villani,  is  the  foundation  rock  of  liberty  tura  Guelfi,  per  la  tirannia  erano  quasi 

in  Italy  ;  so  that,  if  any  Guelf  becomes  a  alienati  della  parte  :  p.  69. 

tyrant,  he  must  of  necessity  turn  to  the  '-  M.   Villani,   p.   531,   637,   731.     Am- 

Ghibelin  side ;  and  of  this  there  hare  been  mirato ;  Machiavelli  ;  Sismondi. 
many  instances :  p.   481.     So  Giovanni 


Italy.  GOVERNMENT  OF  FLORENCE.  -ilT 

Tlie  Guelf  society  had  governed  Avitli  more  or  less  abso- 
luteness tor  near  twenty  years,  when  tlie  repul)lic  became  in- 
volved, through  the  perfidious  conduct  of  the  papal  legate,  in 
a  war  with  the  Holy  See.  Thongli  the  Florentines  were  by 
no  means  superstitious,  this  hostility  to  the  chnrch  appeared 
almost  an  absurdity  to  determined  Guelts,  and  shocked  those 
prejuilices  about  names  which  make  up  the  politics  of"  vulgar 
minds.  The  Guelt'  society,  though  it  could  not  openly  resist 
the  popular  indignation  against  Gregory  XL,  was  not  heartily 
inclined  to  this  war.  Its  management  fell  therefore  into  the 
bands  of  eight  connnissioners,  some  of  tliem  not  well  affected 
to  the  society  ;  whose  admini>tration  was  so  successful  and 
popular  as  to  excite  the  utmost  jealousy  in  the  Guelfs.  They 
began  to  renew  their  warnings,  and  in  eight  months  excluded 
fourscore  citizens.^ 

The  tyranny  of  a  court  may  endure  for  ages ;  but  that  of 
a  faction  is  seldom  permanent.  In  June,  lo78,  the  gonfa- 
lonier of  justice  was  Salvestro  de'  Medici,  a  man  of  approved 
patriotism,  whose  family  liad  been  so  notoriously  of  Guelf 
principles,  that  it  was  iin[)ossible  to  warn  him  from  office. 
He  propo-ed  to  mitigate  the  severity  of  the  existing  law. 
His  proposition  did  not  succeed;  but  its  rejection  provoked 
an  insurrection,  tlie  forerunner  of  still  more  alarming  tumults. 
Tlie  po|»ulace  of  Florence,  like  that  of  other  cities,  was  ter- 
rible in  the  moment  of  sedition  ;  and  a  party  so  long  dreaded 
shrunk  before  the  physical  strength  of  the  nmltitude.  Many 
leaders  of  the  Guelf  society  had  their  houses  destroyed,  and 
some  flefl  from  the  city.  But  instead  of  animlling  their  acts, 
a  middle  course  wa-;  adopted  by  the  committee  of  magistrates 
who  had  been  empowered  to  reform  the  st^ite ;  the  Annnoniti 
were  suspended  three  years  longer  from  office,  and  the  Guelf 
.society  preserve<l  with  some  limitations.  This  temporizing 
course  di<l  not  .satisfy  either  the  Annnoniti  or  the  i)opulace. 
Tile  greater  arts  were  generally  attached  to  the  Guelf  society. 
Between  them  and  the  lesser  arts,  comi)Osed  of  retail  and 
mechanical  traders,  there  wa.s  a  strong  jealousy.  The  latter 
were  adverse  to  the  prevailing  oligarchy  and  to  the  Guelf 
sfjciety,  by  whose  influence  it  was  maintained.  They  were 
eager  to  make  Flon-nce  a  democracy  in  fact  as  well  as  in 
name,  by  participating  in  the  executive  government. 

■  Aiiitnliato,  p.  700. 
VOL.  1.  27 


418  GOVERNMENT  OF   FLORENCE.    Chap.  III.  Part  II. 

But  every  political  institution  appears  to  rest  on  too  con- 
fined a  basis  to  those  whose  point  of  view  is  from  beneath  it. 
While  the  lesser  arts  were  murmuring  at  the  exclusive 
privileges  of  the  commercial  aristocracy,  there  was  yet  an  in- 
ferior class  of  citizens  who  thought  their  own  claims  to  equal 
privileges  irrefragable.  The  arrangement  of  twenty-one 
trading  companies  had  still  left  several  kinds  of  artisans  un- 
incorporated, and  consequently  unprivileged.  These  had  been 
attached  to  the  art  with  which  their  craft  had  most  connec- 
tion in  a  sort  of  dependent  relation.  Thus  to  the  company 
of  drapers,  the  most  wealthy  of  all,  the  various  occupations 
instrumental  in  the  manufacture,  as  woolcombers,  dyers,  and 
weavers,  were  appendant.-*^  Besides  the  sense  of  political 
exclusion,  these  artisans  alleged  that  they  were  oppressed 
by  their  employers  of  the  art,  and  that,  when  they  com- 
plained to  the  consul,  their  judge  in  civil  matters,  no  redress 
could  be  procured.  A  still  lower  order  of  the  community 
was  the  mere  populace,  who  did  not  practise  any  regular 
trade,  or  who  only  worked  for  daily  hire.  These  were  called 
Ciompi,  a  corruption,  it  is  said,  of  the  French  compere. 

"  Let  no  one,"  says  Machiavel  in  this  place,  "  who  begins 
an  innovation  in  a  state  expect  that  he  shall  stop  it  at  his 
pleasure,  or  I'egulate  it  according  to  his  intention."  After 
about  a  month  from  the  first  sedition  another  broke  out,  in 
which  the  ciompi,  or  lowest  po})ulace,  were  alone  concerned. 
Through  the  surprise,  or  cowardice,  or  disaffection  of  the  su- 
perior citizens,  this  was  suffered  to  get  ahead,  and  for  three 
days  the  city  was  in  the  hand  of  a  tumultuous  rabble.  It 
was  vain  to  withstand  their  propositions,  had  they  even  been 
more  unreasonable  than  they  were.  But  they  only  demanded 
the  establishment  of  two  new  arts  for  the  trades  hitherto  de- 
pendent, and  one  for  the  lower  people  ;  and  that  three  of  the 
priors  should  be  chosen  from  the  greater  arts,  three  from  the 
fourteen  lesser,  and  two  from  those  just  created.  Some  de- 
lay, however,  occurring  to  prevent  the  sanction  of  these  in- 
novations by  the  councils,  a  new  fury  took  possession  of  the 
populace ;  the  gates  of  the  palace  belonging  to  the  signiory 
were  forced  open,  the  priors  compelled  to  fly,  and  no  appear- 
ance of  a  constitutional  magistracy  remained  to  throw  the 
veil  of  law  over  the   excesses  of  anarchy.     The  republic 

1  Before  the  year  1340,   according    to   Villani's   calculation,   the  woolen  trade 
occupied  30,000  persons.  1.  xi.  c.  93. 


Italy.  GOVERXMKXT   OF  FLOREXCE.  110 

seemed  to  rock  from  its  fomulations ;  and  the  circumstance  to 
which  historians  ascribe  its  salvation  is  not  the  least  sinsrular 
in  this  critical  epoch.  One  Michel  di  Lando,  a  woolconiber, 
half  dressed  and  without  shoes,  happened  to  hold  the  standard 
of  justice  wrested  from  the  proper  oflicer  when  the  populace 
bur-t  into  the  palace.  Whether  he  was  })revionsly  conspicu- 
ous in  the  tumult  is  not  recorded ;  but  the  wild,  capricious 
mob.  who  had  destroyed  what  they  had  no  conception  how  to 
rebuild,  suddenly  cried  out  that  Lando  should  be  o;ontak)nier 
or  signior,  and  reform  the  city  at  his  pleasure. 

A  choice,  arising  probably  from  wanton  folly,  could  not 
have  been  better  made  by  wisdom.  Lando  was  a  man  of 
courage,  moderation,  and  integrity.  He  gave  innnediate 
proofs  of  these  qualities  by  causing  his  office  to  be  respected. 
The  eight  commissioners  of  the  war,  who,  though  not  insti- 
gators of  the  sedition,  were  well  pleased  to  see  the  Guelf 
})arty  so  entirely  prostrated,  now  fancied  themselves  masters, 
and  began  to  nominate  priors.  But  Lando  sent  a  message  to 
them,  that  he  was  elected  by  the  pr'0|)le,  and  that  he  could 
dispense  with  their  assistance.  He  then  proceeded  to  the 
choice  of  priors.  Three  were  taken  from  the  greater  arts  ; 
three  from  the  lesser  ;  and  three  from  the  two  new  arts  and 
the  lower  people.  Tiiis  eccentric  college  lost  no  time  in  re- 
storing tranrpiillity,  and  compelled  the  populace,  by  threat  of 
pimishment,  to  return  to  their  occupations.  But  the  ciompi 
were  not  disposed  to  give  up  the  pleasures  of  anarchy  so 
readily.  They  were  dissatisfied  at  the  small  share  allotted 
to  them  in  the  new  distribution  of  offices,  and  murmured  at 
their  gonfalonier  as  a  trait<»r  to  the  jioptdar  cause.  Lando 
was  aware  that  an  insurrection  was  projected  ;  he  took  meas- 
ures with  the  mo<t  respectable  citizens;  the  insurgents,  when 
they  showed  themselves,  were  quelled  by  force,  and  the  gon- 
falonier retired  from  office  with  an  approbation  which  all  his- 
torians of  FIon-Mce  have  agreed  to  p(  rjtetiiate.  l*art  of  this 
Ih'W  undoubtedly  been  founded  on  a  consideration  of  the  mis- 
chief which  it  was  in  his  power  to  inflict.  The  ciomiii,  once 
(■he(.'ked,  were  soon  defeated.  Tiie  next  gonfalonier  was, 
like-  Lando,  a  w(X)lcomber ;  but,  wanting  the  intrinsic  merit  of 
Lando,  his  mean  station  excited  universal  contempt.  None 
of  the  arts  could  endure  their  low  coadjutors  ;  a  slK)rt  struggle 
was  made  by  iIk;  populace,  but  they  were  entirely  overpow- 
ered with  considenible  slaughter,  and   the   govei-nment   was 


420  GOVEKNMENT  OF  FLORENCE.     Chap.  III.  Part  II. 

divided  between  the  seven  greater  and  sixteen  lesser  arts,  in 
nearly  equal  proportions. 

The  party  of  the  lesser  arts,  or  inferior  tradesmen,  which 
had  begun  this  confusion,  were  left  winners  when  it  ceased. 
Three  men  of  distinguished  families  wdio  had  instigated  the 
revolution  became  the  leaders  of  Florence  ;  Benedetto  Alber- 
ti,  Tomaso  Strozzi,  and  Georgio  Scali.  Their  government 
had  at  first  to  contend  with  the  ciompi,  smarting  under  loss 
and  disappointment.  But  a  populace  which  is  beneath  the 
inferior  mechanics  may  with  ordinary  prudence  be  kept  in 
subjection  by  a  government  that  has  a  well-organized  militia 
at  its  command.  The  Guelf  aristocracy  was  far  more  to  be 
dreaded.  Some  of  them  had  been  banished,  some  fined, 
some  ennobled  :  the  usual  consequences  of  revolution  which 
they  had  too  often  practised  to  complain.  A  more  iniquitous 
proceeding  disgi'aces  the  new  administration.  Under  pre- 
tence of  conspiracy,  the  chief  of  the  house  of  Albizi,  and 
several  of  his  most  eminent  associates,  were  thrown  into 
prison.  So  little  evidence  of  the  charge  appeared  that  the 
podesta  refused  to  condemn  them  ;  but  the  people  were  clam- 
orous for  blood,  and  half  with,  half  without  the  forms  of  jus- 
tice, these  noble  citizens  were  led  to  execution.  The  part  he 
took  in  this  murder  sullies  the  fame  of  Benedetto  Alberti, 
who  in  his  general  conduct  had  been  inore  uniformly  influ- 
enced by  honest  principles  than  most  of  his  contemporaries. 
Those  who  shared  Avith  him  the  ascendency  in  the  existing 
government,  Strozzi  and  Scali,  abused  their  power  by  oppres- 
sion towards  their  enemies,  and  insolence  towards  all.  Their 
popularity  w^as,  of  course,  soon  at  an  end.  Alberti,  a  sin- 
cere lover  of  freedom,  separated  himself  from  men  who 
seemed  to  emulate  the  arbitrary  government  they  had  over- 
thrown. An  outrage  of  Scali,  in  rescuing  a  criminal  from 
justice,  brought  the  discontent  to  a  crisis  ;  he  was  arrested, 
and  lost  his  head  on  the  scaiFold  ;  while  Strozzi,  his  colleague, 
fled  from  the  city.  But  this  event  was  instantly  followed  by 
a  reaction,  which  Alberti,  perhaps,  did  not  anticipate.  Armed 
men  filled  the  streets ;  the  cry  of  "  Live  the  Guelfs ! "  was 
heard.  After  a  three  years'  depression  the  aristocratical  party 
regained  its  ascendency.  They  did  not  revive  the  severity 
practised  towards  the  Ammoniti ;  but  the  two  new  arts,  cre- 
ated for  the  small  trades,  were  abolished,  and  the  lesser  arts 
reduced  to  a  third  part,  instead  of  something  more  than  one 


Italy.  GOVERNMENT  OF  FLORENCE.  421 

half,  of  pultlic  office;!.  Several  person?^  who  had  favoieil  tlie 
plelieians  were  sent  into  exile ;  and  among  tlie.-e  31icliel  di 
Lando,  whose  great  services  in  snbdning  anarchy  ouglit  to 
have  secured  the  protection  of  every  government.  Bene- 
detto Alherti.  the  enemy  by  turns  of  every  faction  —  because 
every  I'aciidU  was  in  its  turn  oppressive  —  experienced  some 
years  afterwards  the  same  fate.  For  half  a  century  after 
this  time  no  revolution  took  place  at  Florence.  Tlie  Giulf 
ari-tocracy,  strong  in  opulence  and  antiquity,  and  rendered 
prudent  by  experience,  under  the  guidance  of  the  Albizi 
family,  maintained  a  preponderating  influence  without  much 
departing,  the  times  considered,  frou)  moderation  and  respect 
for  the  laws.^ 

It  is  suthciently  manifest,  from  this  sketch  of  the  domestic 
historv  of  Florence,  how  far  that  famous  republic  was  i'rom 
atlording  a  perfect  security  for  civil  rights  or  general  tranquil- 
lity. They  who  hate  the  name  of  free  constitutions  may  ex- 
idt  in  her  internal  dissensions,  as  in  those  of  Atliensor  Rome. 
But  the  calm  jihilosopher  will  not  take  his  standard  of  com- 
parison from  ideal  excellence,  nor  even  from  that  practical 
good  which  has  been  reached  in  our  own  unequalled  consti- 
tution, and  in  some  of  the  repul)licsof  modern  Europe.  The 
men  ami  the  institutions  of  tlie  fourteentli  ceiiturv  are  to  be 
measured  by  fiieir  contemporaries.  Who  would  not  rather 
liave  been  a  citizen  of  Florence  than  a  sul»ject  of  the  Vis- 
conti  ?  In  a  superficial  review  of  history  we  are  sometimes 
apt  to  exaggerate  tlie  vices  of  free  states,  and  to  lose  sight  of 
tliose  inherent  in  tyrannical  power.  The  bold  censoriousness 
of  re])iddican  historians,  and  the  cautious  servilitv  of  writers 
under  an  absolute  monarchy,  conspire  to  mislead  us  as  to  the 
relative  j)nisperity  of  nations.  Acts  of  outrage  and  tumultu- 
ous exces-es  in  a  free  state  are  blazoned  in  mimite  detail,  and 
(le>ceiid  to  posterity;  the  deeds  of  tyranny  anj  studiously  and 
jM-rpetually  suppressed.  Even  those  historians  who  have  no 
j)articular  motiv<"s  for  concealment  turn  away  from  the  monoto- 
nous and  rlisgusting  crimes  of  tyrants.  "  Deeds  of  crueltv."  it 
is  well  ol)served  bv  Matleo  Villani,  after  rehititiir  an   action  of 

I  For  thU  piirt  of  Flon-ntlno  hl*tory,  pIoa«in|;.   but   it  bn'nlts   olT   riitluT   too 

1  . -i  l.-t   Ainiiiinitri.    Miirliiavi-I.    nml    Si»-  k(k>h.  at  tlio  instimt  of  LamlirK  a»uiiiiiin 

li.  I  linvi'  n-ail  an  Irilorui'tiiii;  iiarni-  (lie   offlpc    of    liaiiiiiTi't.       Aimtlirr    coii- 

tin-    of    tlie    oolitiun    of  the  riiniipi,  liy  teiiiporary  writ<'r,  Mdi'liioiii'   ili'  St<'faiii, 

<iino  <'n|i|K>ni,  in   tlur  clj^htciMitli  rohirn<-  who  mimms  to  have  furnishcil  tin-  niatiol- 

of  Miiratorl'ii  rollit-tion.     It  hoii  an   air  alt   of  tin-    thrri-  hiftorlauH   ahovo  uiun- 

of   UvelincM  an<l   trutli  which   U   Tcry  tionod,  hart  not  fiillua  In  uiy  way. 


422  ACQUISITION  OF  TERRITORY      Chap.  III.  Part  II. 

Bernabo  Visconti,  "  are  little  worthy  of  remembrance  ;  yet  let 
me  be  excused  for  having  recounted  one  out  of  many,  as  an 
example  of  the  peril  to  which  men  are  exposed  under  the 
yoke  of  an  unbounded  tyranny."  ^  The  reign  of  Bernabo  af- 
forded abundant  instances  of  a  like  kind.  Second  only  to 
Eccelin  among  the  tyrants  of  Italy,  he  rested  the  security  of 
his  dominion  upon  tortures  and  death,  and  his  laws  themselves 
enact  the  protraction  of  capital  j)uni6hment  through  forty 
days  of  suffering.^  His  nephew,  Giovanni  Maria,  is  said, 
with  a  madness  like  that  of  Nero  or  Commodus,  to  have 
coursed  the  streets  of  Milan  by  night  with  blood-hounds, 
ready  to  chase  and  tear  any  unlucky  passenger.^  Nor  were 
other  Italian  principalities  free  from  similar  tyrants,  though 
none,  perhaps,  upon  the  whole,  so  odious  as  the  Visconti.  The 
private  history  of  many  families,  such,  for  instance,  as  the 
Scala  and  the  Gonzaga,  is  but  a  series  of  assassinations.  The 
ordinary  vices  of  mankind  assumed  a  tint  of  portentous  guilt 
in  the  palaces  of  Italian  2:)rinces.  Their  revenge  was  fratri- 
cide, and  their  lust  was  incest. 

Though  fertile  and  populous,  the  proper  district  of  Flor- 
Acquisition  6nce  was  by  no  means  extensive.  An  indepen- 
of  territory  dcut  nobility  occupicd  the  Tuscan  Appennines  with 
y  orence.  ^j^^jj.  (.^stles.  Of  these  the  most  conspicuous  were 
the  counts  of  Guidi,  a  numerous  and  powerful  family,  who 
possessed  a  material  influence  in  the  affairs  of  Florence  and 
of  all  Tuscany  till  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century,  and 
some  of  whom  preserved  their  independence  much  longer.* 
To  the  south,  the  republics  of  Arezzo,  Perugia,  and  Siena ; 
to  the  west,  those  of  Volterra,  Pisa,  and  Lucca ;  Prato  and 
Pistoja  to  the  north,  limited  the  Florentine  territory.  It  was 
late  before  these  boundaries  were  removed.  During  the 
usurpations  of  Uguccione  at  Pisa,  and  of  Castruccio  at  Lucca, 
the  republic  of  Florence  was  always  unsuccessful  in  the  field. 
After  the  death  of  Castruccio  she  began  to  act  more  vigor- 
ously, and  engaged  in  several  confederacies  with  the  powers 
of  Lombardy,  especially  in  a  league  with  Venice  against 
Mastino  della  Scala.  But  the  republic  made  no  acquisition 
of  territory  tiU  1351,  when  she  annexed  the  small  city  of 

1  p.  434.  The  last  of  the  counts  Guidi.  having  un- 

2  Sismondi,  t.  vi.  p.  316;  Corio,  1st.  di    wisely  embarked  in  a  confederacy  against 
Milauo,  p.  486.  Florence,  was  obliged  to  give  up  his  an- 

3  Corio,  p:  595.  cient  patrimony  in  1440. 
*  G.  Villani,  1.  v.   c.   37,  41,  ct  alibi. 


Italy. 


BY   FLOUENCE. 


423 


Prato.  not  ten  miles  from  her  walls.^  Pistoja,  thougli  still 
nominally  independent,  received  a  Florentine  ganison  aViout 
the  same  time.  Several  additions  were  made  to  the  district 
by  lair  purchase  from  the  nobility  of  the  Appennines,  and  a 
few  by  main  force.  The  territory  Avas  still  very  Jittle  pro- 
portioned to  the  fame  and  power  of  Florence.  The  latter 
was  founded  upon  her  vast  commercial  opulence.  Every 
Italian  state  employed  mercenary  troops,  and  the  richest  was, 
of  course,  the  most  powerful.  In  the  war  against  Mestino 
della  Scala  in  lo3()  the  revenues  of  Florence  are  reckoned 
by  Villani  at  three  hundred  tliousand  florins,  which,  as  he 
observes,  is  more  than  tlic  king  of  Naples  or  of  Aragon  pos- 
sesses.'- The  expenditure  went  at  that  time  very  nuich  be- 
yond the  receipt,  and  was  defrayed  by  loans  from  the  princi- 
pal mercantile  tirms,  which  were  secured  by  public  funds, 
the  earliest  instance,  I  believe,  of  that  financial  resource.* 
Her  population  was  computed  at  ninety  thousand  souls. 
Villani  reckons  the  district  at  eighty  thousand  men,  I  sup- 
pose those  only  of  military  age ;  but  this  calculation  must 
have  been  too  large,  even  though  he  included,  as  we  may 
presume,  the  city  in  his  estimate.'*     Tuscany,   though  well 


1  M.  Villani,  p.  72.  This  was  rather 
a  uiuii-'ure  of  usurpiition  ;  hut  thcrppub- 
lic  ha<l  Mime  n-xsoii  to  apprfhcnJ  that 
Prato  niit'lit  fill  into  the  hands  of  the 
A'isiotiti.  Their  conduct  towards  I'istoja 
was  intlu<'nr<-d  hy  the  same  motive  ;  but 
it  was  still  further  removed  from  abso- 
lute justire.  p.  91. 

■•:  a.  Villani.  1.  ix.  c  OO-M.  These 
chapters  eonUiin  a  very  full  and  interest- 
ln(^  ^t.•lt<■nleut  <if  the  revenues,  e.xpenseg, 
population,  and  internal  condition  of 
Florence  at  that  time.  I'art  of  tliem  is 
extracted  by  M.  Sismondi,  t.  v.  p.  ,'Jt'tj. 
The  gold  florin  was  worth  about  ten 
Rhillings  of  our  money.  The  district  of 
Flon-nce  was  not  then  much  larger  than 
Mi'Mlesex. 

^•i.  Villani,  1   xl.o.  49. 

*  ('.  93.  Troviamo  diligentemente,  che 
In  ijuesti  tempi  uvea  in  Kiri-nitc  circa  a 
2.')  niil:i  nouiiiii  da  portan-  arme  dit  15 
In  7<*  anni — Stiniavasi  avero  in  Kin-nite 
dji  '.*)  niilu  bocche  tni  uoniiiii  e  feniinu  c 
funciulli,  per  r  avviiui  del  pane  bisoifnnvu 
al  continuoalla  cltU.  Tliehe  proportions 
of  '2i>,il><t)  men  Ix-twi-en  flfl<'en  and  sev- 
enty, and  of  9<l.i«(f)  wiuls.  an-  us  ni-arly 
BJi  (lOi-j-ible  ciiii«onant  U)  UKxIern  calcula- 
tion, of  which  Villani  knew  nothing, 
whii-h  rniiDrnin  his  accunicy  ;  though  M. 
Sisuioudl   uintertx,    p.  'Jiyj,   that    the    city 


contained  150,000  inhabitants,  on  no  bet- 
ter authority,  as  far  as  appesirs,  than 
that  of  Boccaccio,  who  says  that  100,000 
perished  in  the  great  plague  of  1348, 
which  was  gi-nerally  suppo.sed  to  destroy 
two  out  of  thrif.  But  surely  two  vague 
8up|)ositions  are  not  to  be  combined,  in 
order  to  overthrow  such  a  testimony  as 
that  of  Villani,  who  seems  to  have  con- 
sulted all  n-gisters  and  other  authentic 
documents  in  his  reach. 

U'hat  Villani  sjiys  of  the  population 
of  the  district  may  lead  us  to  reckon  it, 
piTliaps.  at  about  IgO.fKH)  souls,  allowing 
the  baptisms  to  be  one  in  thirty  of  the 
population.  Kagionavasi  in  ((uesti  tempi 
aviTe  nel  contudo  e  distretfo  di  Kireuzo 
dc  80  niila  uomini.  Troviamo  del  pio- 
vano,  che  batte/./jiva  i  fanclulli.  impc- 
roche  per  ogni  nuischio,  che  battcz/jiva 
in  San  (iiovanni,  per  avero  il  novero, 
metea  una  fava  nera,  e  jier  ogni  feniina 
una  bianca,  trovo,  ch'  eraiio  1'  anno  in 
ijuesti  tcmiii  dalle  5.S(H)  in  sei  mila,  avan- 
/aiido  le  [liii  volte  il  sesso  niavi  ulino  da 
3<KJ  in  5()0  per  anno.  Baplisnis  could 
only  be  performed  in  one  publii'  font,  at 
Klorence,  I'isa,  and  some  other  cities. 
The  building  that  contjtiued  this  font 
was  callc-d  tlie  Baptistery.  The  liaptis- 
terii'H  of  Klorence  and  I'isa  still  ri'maln, 
and  are  well  known.     Du  Cunge,  v.  Bap- 


424  PISA.  Chap.  III.  Part  II. 

cultivated  and  flourishing,  does  not  contain  by  any  means  so 
great  a  number  of  inhabitants  in  that  sj)ace  at  present. 

The  first  eminent  conquest  made  by  Florence  was  that  of 
p.  Pisa,  early  in  the  fifteenth   century.     Pisa   had 

been  distinguished  as  a  commercial  city  ever  since 
the  age  of  the  Otlios.  From  her  ports,  and  those  of  Genoa, 
the  earliest  naval  armaments  of  the  western  nations  were 
fitted  out  against  the  Saracen  corsairs  who  infested  the  Medi- 
terranean coasts.  In  the  eleventh  century  she  undertook, 
and,  after  a  pretty  long  struggle,  completed,  the  important, 
or  at  least  the  splendid,  conquest  of  Sardinia,  an  island  long 
subject  to  a  Moorish  chieftain.  Several  noble  families  of 
Pisa,  who  had  defrayed  the  chief  cost  of  this  expedition, 
shared  the  island  in  districts,  which  they  held  in  fief  of  the 
republic'  At  a  later  period  the  Balearic  isles  were  sub- 
jected, but  not  long  retained,  by  Pisa.  Her  naval  prowess 
was  supported  by  her  commerce.  A  writer  of  the  twelfth 
century  repi'oaches  her  with  the  Jews,  the  Arabians,  and 
other  "  monsters  of  the  sea,"  who  thronged  in  her  streets.^ 
The  crusades  poured  fresh  wealth  into  the  lap  of  the  mari- 
time Italian  cities.  In  some  of  those  expeditions  a  great 
portion  of  the  armament  was  conveyed  by  sea  to  Palestine, 
and  freighted  the  vessels  of  Pisa,  Genoa,  and  Venice.  When 
the  Christians  had  bought  with  their  blood  the  sea-coast  of 
Syria,  these  republics  procured  the  most  extensive  privileges 
in  the  new  states  that  were  formed  out  of  their  slender  con- 
quests, and  became  the  conduits  tlu-ough  which  the  produce 
of  the  East  flowed  in  upon  the  ruder  nations  of  Europe. 
Pisa  maintained  a  large  share  of  this  commerce,  as  well  as 
of  maritime  greatness,  till  near  the  end  of  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury. In  1282,  we  are  told  by  Villani,  she  Avas  in  great 
power,  possessing  Sardinia,  Corsica,  and  Elba,  from  whence 

tisterium.   But  there  were  fifty -seven  par-  trict  of  Florence  in  1343  is  estimated  by 

ishes  and  one  hundred  and  ten  cliurches  Villani   to  contain  as  great   a   number, 

within  the  city.    Villani,  ibid.     Mr.  Ilos-  before  Pisa,  Volterra,  or  even  Prato  and 

coe   has    published   a   manuscript,    evi-  Pistoja,  had  been  annexed  to  it. — Ros- 

dently  written  after  the  taking  of  Pisa  in  coe's  Life  of  Lorenzo.     Appendix,  No.  16. 

1406,  though,  as  I  should  guess,  not  long  i  Sismondi.  t.  i.  p.  345,  372. 

after  that  event,  containing  a  proposi-  2  Qui  pergit  Pisas,  videt  illic  monstra 

tion  for  an  income-tax  of  ten  per  cent.  marina ; 

throughout   the   Florentine    dominions.  Ha'c  urbs,  Paganis,  Turchis,  Libycis 

Among  its  other  calculations,  the  popu-  quoque,  Parthis, 

lation  is  reckoned  at  400,000  ;  assuming  Sordida;  Chaldeei  sua  lustrant  moenia 

that  to  be  the  proportion  to  80,000  men  tetri. 

of  military  age,  though  cert.ainly  beyond  Donizo,  VitaComitissseMathildis, 

the  mark.     It  is  singular  that  the  dis-  apud  Muratori,  Dissert.  31. 


Italy.  lUsA.  425 

the  republic,  as  well  as  private  persons,  derived  larg^e  rev- 
enues, and  almost  ruled  the  sea  with  their  sliips  and  mer- 
chandises, and  beyond  sea  were  very  powerful  in  (he  city  of 
Acre,  and  much  connected  with  its  principal  citizens.^  The 
prosperous  era  of  Pisa  is  marked  by  her  ])ublii-  cdihces. 
She  was  the  tirst  Italian  city  tliat  took  a  pride  in  architect- 
ural maguiticence.  Her  cathedral  is  of  the  eleventh  cen- 
tury ;  the  baptistery,  the  famous  inclined  tower,  or  belfry,  the 
arcades  that  surntund  the  Campo  Santo,  or  cemetery  of 
Pisa,  are  of  the  twelftli,  or,  at  latest,  of  the  thirteenth. - 

It  would  liave  been  no  slight  anomaly  in  the  annals  of 
Italy,  or.  we  might  say.  of  mankind,  if  twu  neighl)()ring  cities, 
competitors  in  every  mercantile  occupation  and  every  naval 
enterprise,  had  not  been  perpetual  enemies  to  each  other.  One 
is  more  surprised,  if  the  fact  be  true,  that  no  war  broke  out 
between  Pi>a  and  Genoa  till  IITJ."  From  this  time  at  least 
they  continually  recurred.  An  eipiality  of  forces  and  of 
courage  kept  the  contiict  uncertain  for  the  greater  part  of 
two  centuries.  Tiieir  battles  were  numerous,  and  sonietinies, 
taken  separately,  decisive  ;  but  the  public  spirit  and  resources 
of  each  city  were  called  out  by  defeat,  and  we  generally  find 
a  new  armament  replaee  the  losses  of  an  unsuccessful  com- 
bat. In  tills  respect  the  naval  contest  between  Pisa  and 
Genoa,  tiiough  much  longer  protracted,  resembles  that  of 
Kome  and  Carthage  in  the  first  Punic  war.  But  Pisa  was 
reserved  for  her  yEgades.  In  one  fatal  battle,  off  the  little 
isle  of  Meluria,  in  12H4,  her  whole  navy  was  destroyed. 
Several  unfortunate  and  expensive  armaments  had  almost  ex- 
hau-te<l  tlie  state,  and  this  was  the  last  effort,  by  private  sac- 
rifices, to  ecpiip  one  more  fleet.  After  this  defeat  it  was  in 
vain  to  contend  for  empire.  Eleven  thousand  Pisans  lan- 
^'uished  for  many  years  in  prison ;  it  was  a  current  saying 
that  whoever  would  see  Pisa  sliould  seek  her  at  Genoa.  A 
treacherous  ehiet",  that  coimt  Ugolino  whose  guilt  was  so 
terrilily  avenged,  is  said  to  have  purposely  lost  the  battle, 
an«l  prevented  liie  ransom  of  tlie  captives,  to  secure  his 
power:  accusations  that  obtain  easy  credit  with  an  unsuc- 
cessful people. 

From  the  epoch  of  the  battle  of  Meloria,  Pi>a  ceased  to 

I  Vlllaiil.  I.  Ti.  r.  83. 

5  S|.iii..i„|l.  f.  iv.  p.  i;S;  TlruboHchi,  t.  iii.  p.  4llti. 

'  Munitori.  ad  aim.  III'J. 


426  GENOA.  Chap.  III.  Paet  II. 

be  a  maritime  power.  Forty  years  afterwards  she  was  strip- 
ped of  her  ancient  colony,  the  island  of  Sardinia.  The  four 
Pisan  families  who  had  been  invested  wdth  that  conquest  had 
been  apt  to  consider  it  as  their  absolute  property ;  their  appel- 
lation of  judge  seemed  to  indicate  deputed  power,  but  they 
sometimes  assumed  that  of  king,  and  several  attempts  had  been 
made  to  establish  an  immediate  dependence  on  the  empire, 
or  even  on  the  pope.  A  new  potentate  had  now  come  for- 
ward on  the  stage.  The  malecontent  feudataries  of  Sardinia 
made  overtures  to  the  king  of  Ai'agon,  who  had  no  scruples 
about  attacking  the  indisputable  possession  of  a  declining 
republic.  Pisa  made  a  few  unavailing  efforts  to  defend  Sar- 
dinia ;  but  the  nominal  superiority  was  hardly  worth  a  con- 
test; and  she  surrendered  her  rights  to  the  crown  of  Aragon. 
Her  commerce  now  dwindled  with  her  greatness.  During 
the  fourteenth  century  Pisa  almost  renounced  the  ocean  and 
directed  her  main  attention  to  the  pohtics  of  Tuscany.  Ghib- 
elin  by  invariable  predilection,  she  was  in  constant  opposition 
to  the  Guelf  cities  which  looked  up  to  Florence.  But  in  the 
fourteenth  century  the  names  of  freeman  and  Ghibelin  were 
not  easily  united ;  and  a  city  in  that  interest  stood  insulated 
between  the  republics  of  an  opposite  faction  and  the  tyrants 
of  her  own.  Pisa  fell  several  times  under  the  yoke  of 
usurpers  ;  she  was  included  in  the  wide-spreading  acquisitions 
of  Gian  Galeazzo  Visconti.  At  his  death  one  of  his  family 
seized  the  dominion,  and  finally  the  Florentines  purchased 
for  400,000  florins  a  rival  and  once  equal  city.  The  Pisans 
made  a  resistance  more  according  to  what  they  had  been 
than  what  they  were. 

The  early  history  of  Genoa,  in  all  her  foreign  relations,  is 
Genoa.  involved  in  that  of  Pisa.     As  allies  against  the 

Her  wars  Saraccus  of  Africa,  Spain,  and  the  Mediterranean* 
islands,  as  corrivals  in  commerce  with  these  very  Saracens 
or  with  the  Christians  of  the  East,  as  cooperators  in  the 
great  expeditions  under  the  banner  of  the  cross,  or  as  engaged 
in  deadly  warfare  with  each  other,  the  two  republics  stand  in 
continual  parallel.  From  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth 
century  Genoa  was,  I  think,  the  more  prominent  and  flour- 
ishing of  the  two.  She  had  conquered  the  island  of  Corsica 
at  the  same  time  that  Pisa  reduced  Sardinia ;  and 
her  acquisition,  though  less  considerable,  was  longer 
preserved.     Her  territory  at  home,  the  ancient  Liguria,  was 


Italy.  HER  AVARS.  427 

much  more  extensive,  and,  wlu\t  was  most  important,  con- 
tiiined  a  frrcater  ranire  of  sea-coast  than  that  ot"  Pi?a.  But 
the  couiuK'ivial  and  niariliuic  prosperity  ot"  Genoa  may  be 
diited  from  the  recovery  of  Constantinople  by  the  Greeks  in 
12G1.  Jealous  of  the  Venetians,  by  whose  arms  the  Latin 
empei'Oi's  had  been  phieed,  and  were  still  maintained,  on  iheir 
throne,  the  Genoese  assisted  Palajologus  in  overturning  that 
usurpation.  They  obtained  in  consequence  the  suburb  of 
Pera  or  Galata,  over  against  Constantinople,  as  an  exclusive 
settlement,  where  their  colony  was  ruled  by  a  magistrate  sent 
from  honae,  and  frequently  defied  the  Greek  capital  with  its 
armed  galleys  and  intrt'j)id  seamen.  From  this  convenient 
station  Gi.'uoa  extended  her  commerce  into  the  Ulark  Sea, 
and  estiiblished  her  principal  factory  at  Caffa,  in  the  Crimean 
peninsula.  This  commercial  monopoly,  for  such  she  endeav- 
ored to  render  it,  ag<;ravated  the  animosity  of  ,  „  . 
Venice.  As  Pisa  retired  from  the  field  of  waters, 
a  new  enemy  appeared  upon  the  horizon  to  dispute  the  mari- 
time dominion  of  Genoa.  Her  first  war  with  Venice  was  in 
l^.y^^.  The  second  was  not  till  after  the  victory  of  Meloria 
had  crushed  her  more  ancient  enemy.  It  broke  out  in  1293, 
and  was  prosecuted  with  determined  fury  and  a  great  display 
of  naval  strength  on  both  sides.  One  Genoese  armament, 
as  we  are  assured  by  an  historian,  consisted  of  one  hundred 
and  fifty-five  galleys,  each  manned  with  from  two  hundred 
and  twenty  to  three  hundre<l  sailors ;  ^  a  force  astonishing  to 
tlio^e  wlio  know  the  more  slender  resources  of  Italv  in  mod- 
em  times,  but  which  is  rendered  credible  by  several  analogous 
facts  of  good  autliority.  It  wa-*.  however,  beyond  any  other 
exertion.  Tlie  usual  fleets  of  Genoa  and  Venice  were  of 
seventy  to  ninety  galleys. 

Perliaps  the  naval  exploits  of  these  two  republics  may 
aflford  a  more  inten-sting  spectiicle  to  some  minds  than  any 
other  part  of  Itjdian  history.  Compared  with  military  trans- 
actions of  the  same  age,  they  are  more  sanguinary,  more 
brilliant,  and  exhibit  full  as  much  skill  and  intre])i(lity.  But 
maritime  warfare  is  scanty  in  circinn>taiiees,  and  the  iiult-fi- 
niteness  of  its  lociility  prevents  it  from  resting  in  the  memory. 
And  th'iugh  the  wars  of  Genoa  and  Venice  were  not  always 
so  unconnected  with  territcjrial  politics  as  those  of  the  former 

>  Munitorl,  ad.  1295 


428  GENOA.  Chap.  III.  Part  II. 

city  with  Pisa,  yet,  from  the  alternation  of  success  and  equal- 
ity of  forces,  they  did  not  often  produce  any  decisive  effect. 
One  memorable  encounter  in  the  Sea  of  Marmoi'a,  whei-e 
the  Genoese  fought  and  conquered  single-handed  against  the 
Venetians,  the  Catalans,  and  the  Greeks,  hardly  belongs  to 
Italian  history.-^ 

But  the  most  remarkable  war,  and  that  productive  of  the 

1352        greatest  consequences,  was  one  that  commenced  in 

War  of  1.378,  after  several  acts  of  hostility  in  the  Levant, 

loggia.  wherein  the  Venetians  appear  to  have  been  the 
principal  aggressors.  Genoa  did  not  stand  alone  in  this  war. 
A  formidable  confederacy  was  raised  against  Venice,  who 
had  given  provocation  to  many  enemies.  Of  this  Francis 
Carrara,  signor  of  Padua,  and  the  king  of  Hungary  were  the 
leaders.  But  the  principal  struggle  was,  as  usual,  upon  the 
Avaves.  During  the  winter  of  1378  a  Genoese  fleet  kept  the 
sea,  and  ravaged  the  shores  of  Dalmatia.  The  Venetian 
armament  had  been  weakened  by  an  epidemic  disease,  and 
when  Vittor  Pisani,  their  admiral,  gave  battle  to  the  enemy, 
he  was  compelled  to  fight  with  a  hasty  conscription  of  lands- 
men against  the  best  sailors  in  the  world.  Entirely  defeated, 
and  taking  refuge  at  Venice  with  only  seven  galleys,  Pisani 
was  cast  into  prison,  as  if  his  iU  fortune  had  been  his  crime. 
Meanwhile  the  Genoese  fleet,  augmented  by  a  strong  rein- 
forcement, rode  before  the  long  natural  ramparts  that  separate 
the  lagunes  of  Venice  from  the  Adriatic.  Six  passages  in- 
tersect the  islands  which  constitute  this  barrier,  besides  the 
broader  outlets  of  Brondolo  and  Fossone,  through  which  the 
waters  of  the  Brenta  and  the  Adige  are  discharged.  The 
lagune  itself,  as  is  well  known,  consists  of  extremely  shallow 
water,  unnavigable  for  any  vessel  except  along  the  course 
of  artificial  and  intricate  passages.  Notwithstanding  the  ap- 
parent ditficulties  of  such  an  enterprise,  Pietro  Doria,  the 
Genoese  admiral,  determined  to  reduce  the  city.  His  first 
successes  gave  him  reason  to  hope.  He  forced  the  passage, 
and  stormed  the  little  town  of  Chioggia,^  built  upon  the  inside 
of  the  isle  bearing  that  name,  about  twenty-five  miles  south 
of  Venice.  Nearly  four  thousand  prisoners  fell  here  into 
his    hands :    an  augury,  as  it  seemed,  of   a  more   splendid 

1  Gibbon,  c.  63.  of  the  Venetian  dialect,  which  changes 

2  Chioggia,  known  at  Venice  by  the    the  §■  into  z. 
name  of  Chioza,  according  to  the  usage 


Italy.  HER  WARS.  -129 

triumph.  Tu  the  consternation  thi:*  misfortune  inspired  at 
Venice  the  tirst  impulse  was  to  ask  tor  peace.  Tlie  ambas- 
sadors carried  with  them  seven  Genoese  prisoners,  as  a  sort 
of  pcace-ollerin<r  to  the  admiral,  and  were  empowered  to 
make  larj^e  anil  humiliating  concessions,  reservinjr  nothing 
but  the  liberty  of  \'enice.  Francis  Carrara  strongly  urged 
his  allies  to  treat  for  peace.  But  the  Genoese  were  stimu- 
lated by  long  hatred,  and  intoxicated  by  this  tniexpectcd 
opiiortunity  of  revenge.  lX)ria,  calling  the  amkxssadors 
into  council,  thus  addressed  them:  ''Ye  shall  obtain  no 
peace  from  us,  I  swear  to  you,  nor  from  the  lord  of  Padua, 
till  lirst  we  have  jjut  a  curb  in  the  mouths  of  those  wild 
horses  that  stand  upon  the  place  of  St.  ]Mark.  "When  they 
are  bridled  you  shall  have  enough  of  peace.  Take  back 
with  you  your  Genoese  ca|)tives.  for  I  am  coming  within  a 
few  days  to  release  both  them  and  their  comjianions  fiom 
your  prisons."  When  this  answer  was  reported  to  the 
senate,  they  prepared  to  defend  themselves  with  the  charac- 
teristic firmness  of  their  government.  Every  eye  Avas  turned 
towards  a  great  man  unjustly  punished,  their  admiral  Mttor 
Pisani.  He  was  called  out  of  ]u-ison  to  defend  his  country 
amid-t  general  acclamations;  but,  etjual  in  magnanimifv  and 
simple  republican  patriotism  to  the  noblest  characters  of 
antiquity,  Pisani  repressed  the  favoring  voices  of  the  multi- 
tudf.  anil  bade  them  reserve  their  enthusiasm  for  St.  i\Iark, 
the  symltol  and  war-cry  of  Venice.  Under  the  vigorous 
command  of  Pisani  the  canals  were  fortified  or  occujtied  by 
large  vessels  armed  with  artillery;  thirty-four  galleys  were 
equijiped;  every  citizen  conlriluitcd  according  to  his  power; 
in  the  entire  want  of  conuncrcial  resf)urces  (for  Venice  had 
not  a  merchant-ship  during  tiiis  war)  ju-ivate  plate  was 
melted  :  and  tlie  senate  held  out  the  promise  of  enno1»ling 
tliirly  families  wlio  .-liould  be  mo>t  forward  in  tliis  strife  of 
j)atrioti-iii. 

The  new  Ih'et  was  so  ill  provide<l  with  seamen  that  for 
some  montiis  the  a<lmiral  «  luployed  them  only  in  manoMiv- 
ring  along  the  canals.  From  some  un;iccouiilable  siq)ine- 
ness,  or  more  probably  from  the  insuperable  ditliculties  of  the 
nndert:ikiiig,  tiie  Genoese  made  no  assault  upon  the  eilv. 
Tbey  had,  indeed,  fair  grounds  to  iiope  its  reduction  by 
famine  or  despair.  Every  acces.s  to  the  continent  was  cut 
off  by  the  troops  of  Padua;  and  the  king  of  Ilinigary  iiad 


430  WARS   OF  GENOA.  Chap.  III.  Part  II. 

mastored  almost  all  the  Venetian  towns  in  Istria  and  along 
the  Dalmatian  coast.  The  doge  Contarini,  taking  the  chief 
command,  appeared  at  length  with  his  fleet  near  Chioggia, 
before  the  Genoese  were  aware.  They  were  still  less  aware 
of  his  secret  design.  He  pushed  one  of  the  large  round 
vessels,  then  called  cocche,  into  the  narrow  passage  of  Chiog- 
gia which  connects  the  lagune  with  the  sea,  and,  mooring  her 
athwart  the  channel,  interrupted  that  communication.  At- 
tacked with  fury  by  the  enemy,  this  vessel  went  down  on  the 
spot,  and  the  doge  improved  his  advantage  by  sinking  loads 
of  stones  until  the  passage  became  absolutely  unnavigable. 
It  was  still  possible  for  the  Genoese  fleet  to  follow  the  prin- 
cipal canal  of  the  lagune  towards  Venice  and  the  northern 
passages,  or  to  sail  out  of  it  by  the  harbor  of  Brondolo ;  but, 
whether  from  confusion  or  from  miscalculating  the  dangers 
of  their  position,  they  suffered  the  Venetians  to  close  the 
canal  upon  them  by  the  same  means  they  had  used  at  Chiog- 
gia, and  even  to  place  their  fleet  in  the  entrance  of  Brondolo 
so  near  to  the  lagune  that  the  Genoese  could  not  form  their 
ships  in  line  of  battle.  The  circumstances  of  the  two  com- 
batants were  thus  entirely  changed.  But  the  Genoese  fleet, 
though  besieged  in  Chioggia,  was  impregnable,  and  their 
command  of  the  land  secured  them  from  famine.  Venice, 
notwithstanding  her  unexpected  success,  was  still  very  far 
from  secure ;  it  was  difficult  for  the  doge  to  keep  his  position 
through  the  winter ;  and  if  the  enemy  could  appear  in  open 
sea,  the  risks  of  combat  were  extremely  hazardous.  It  is 
said  that  the  senate  deliberated  upon  transporting  the  seat  of 
their  liberty  to  Candia,  and  that  the  doge  had  announced  his 
intention  to  raise  the  siege  of  Chioggia,  if  expected  succors 
did  not  arrive  by  the  1st  of  January,  1380.  On  that  very 
day  Carlo  Zeno,  an  admiral  who,  ignorant  of  the  dangers  of 
his  country,  had  been  supporting  the  honor  of  her  flag  in  the 
Levant  and  on  the  coast  of  Liguria,  appeared  with  a  rein- 
forcement of  eighteen  galleys  and  a  store  of  provisions. 
From  that  moment  the  confidence  of  Venice  revived.  The 
fleet,  now  superior  in  strength  to  the  enemy,  began  to  attack 
them  with  vivacity.  After  several  months  of  obstinate  re- 
sistance the  Genoese,  whom  their  republic  had  ineffectually 
attempted  to  relieve  by  a  fresh  armament,  blocked  up  in  the 
town  of  Chioggia,  and  pressed  by  hunger,  were  obliged  to 
surrender.     Nineteen  galleys  only  out  of  forty-eight  were  in 


Italy.  HER  GOVERNMENT.  431 

gooil  condition ;  and  the  crewi*  wore  equally  diinini?:ln'd  in 
tlie  ton  niontiis  of  tJK'ir  occupation  of  C'liiogj^ia.  Tlic  pride 
of  Genoa  was  deemed  to  be  justly  humbled ;  and  even  her 
own  historian  confesses  that  God  would  not  sutler  so  noble  a 
city  as  \\'nice  to  become  the  six)il  of  a  conqueror.^ 

Each  of  the  two  republics  had  sufficient  reason  to  lament 
their  mutual  prejudices,  and  the  seliish  cupidity  of  their  mer- 
chants, which  u-urps  in  all  maritime  countries  the  name  of 
patriotism.  Though  the  capture  of  Chioggia  did  not  termi- 
nate the  war,  both  jiarties  were  exhausted,  and  willing,  next 
year,  to  accept  the  mediation  of  the  duke  of  Savoy.  By  the 
peace  of  Turin,  Venice  surrendered  most  of  her  territorial 
possessions  to  tlie  king  of  Hungary.  That  prince  and 
Francis  Carrara  were  the  only  gainers.  Genoa  obtained  the 
isle  of  Tenedo*,  one  of  the  original  subjects  of  dispute ;  a 
poor  indenmity  for  her  losses.  Tliougli,  upon  a  hasty  view, 
the  result  of  this  war  appears  more  unfavorable  to  Venice, 
yet  in  fact  it  is  the  epoch  of  the  decline  of  Genoa.  From 
this  time  she  never  commanded  the  ocean  with  such  navies 
as  before ;  her  commerce  gradually  went  into  decay ;  and 
the  fifteenth  century,  the  most  splendid  in  the  annals  of 
Venice,  is,  till  recent  times,  the  most  ignominious  in  those  of 
Genoa.  But  this  was  partly  owing  to  internal  dissensions, 
by  which  her  liberty,  as  well  as  glory,  was  for  a  while  sus- 
pended. 

At  Genoa,  as  in  other  cities  of  Loml)ardy,  the  principal 
magistrates  of  the  republic  were  originally  styled  Government 
Con.-uls.  A  chronicle  drawn  up  under  the  inspec-  °^  Genoa, 
tion  of  the  senate  perpetuates  tiie  names  of  these  early 
magistrates.  It  apjjcars  that  their  number  varied  from  four 
to  six,  annually  elected  by  the  people  in  their  full  parlia- 
ment. These  consuls  y)resided  over  the  republic  and  com- 
manded the  for<-(*s  Ity  land  and  sea;  while  another  class  of 
magistrates,  bearing  the  same  title,  were  anmially  elected  by 
the  several  crunpanies  into  which  the  people  were  divided, 
lor  the  administration  of  civil  justice.'^  Tiiis  was  the  regi- 
men of  the  twelfth  century ;  but  in  the  next  Genoa  fell  into 
the  fashion  of  intrusting  the  executive  power  to  a  foreign 

Mi.  SU-lIn,    AnnaleM   Qonuoniica;    Ga-  Sidinondi's   nnmitivo   is  vory   clear  and 

t-im.  I«t<irin  I'n'lovnna.     Uotli  thcHc  con-  /ipiritcd.  —  nUt.  doH  lUpubl.  Ital.   t.  vU. 

t.-iri;".nirv    work",    of    whirh    the    latt<-r  p. 'iOfi-aS. 
(.'i\>  -  lln-  Ix-xt  ri'liition,  are  in  tlio  Hoven-        "J  Siauioudi.  t.  I.  p.  353. 
Ui-uCti  Tulume  of  Munituri'ii  coUcctiou. 


432  GOVERNMENT   OF  GENOA.    Chap.  IH.  Part  II. 

podesta.  The  podesta  was  assisted  by  a  council  of  eight, 
chosen  by  the  eight  com2>anies  of  nobility.  This  institution, 
if  indeed  it  were  anything  more  than  a  custom  or  usurpation, 
originated  jjrobably  not  much  later  than  the  beginning  of 
the  thirteenth  century.  It  gave  not  only  an  aristocratic,  but 
almost  an  oligarchical  character  to  the  constitution,  since 
many  of  the  nobility  were  not  members  of  these  eight  socie- 
ties. Of  the  senate  or  councils  we  hardly  know  more  than 
their  existence ;  they  are  very  little  mentioned  by  historians. 
Everything  of  a  general  nature,  everything  that  required  the 
expression  of  public  will,  was  reserved  for  the  entire  and  un- 
represented sovereignty  of  the  people.  In  no  city  was  the 
parliament  so  often  convened ;  for  war,  for  peace,  for  al- 
liance, for  change  of  government.-^  These  very  dissonant 
elements  were  not  likely  to  harmonize.  The  people,  suf- 
ficiently accustomed  to  the  forms  of  democracy  to  imbibe  its 
spirit,  repined  at  the  practical  influence  which  was  thrown 
into  the  scale  of  the  nobles.  Nor  did  some  of  the  latter  class 
scruple  to  enter  that  path  of  ambition  which  leads  to  power 
by  flattery  of  the  populace.  Two  or  three  times  within  the 
thirteenth  century  a  high-born  demagogue  had  nearly  over- 
turned the  general  liberty,  like  the  Torriani  at  Milan,  tlu'ough 
the  pretence  of  defending  that  of  individuals.^  Among  the 
nobility  themselves  four  houses  were  distinguished  beyond 
all  the  rest  —  the  Grimaldi,  the  Fieschi,  the  Doria,  the  Spi- 
nola ;  the  two  former  of  Guelf  politics,  the  latter  adherents 
of  the  empire.^  Perhaps  their  equality  of  forces,  and  a  jeal- 
ousy which  even  the  families  of  the  same  faction  entertained 
of  each  other,  prevented  any  one  fi-om  usurping  the  signiory 
at  Genoa.  Neither  the  Guelf  nor  Ghibelin  party  obtaining  a 
decided  preponderance,  continual  revolutions  occurred  in  the 
city.  The  most  celebrated  was  the  expulsion  of  the  Ghibe- 
Hns  under  the  Doria  and  Spinola  in  1318.  They  had  re- 
course to  the  Visconti  of  Milan,  and  their  own  resources 
were  not  unequal  to  cope  with  their  country.  The  Guelfs 
thought  it  necessary  to  call  in  Robert  king  of  Naples,  always 
ready  to  give  assistance  as  the  price  of  dominion,  and  con- 
ferred upon  him  the  temporary  sovereignty  of  Genoa.  A 
siege  of  several  years'  duration,  if  we  believe  an  historian  of 
that  age,  produced  as  many  remarkable  exploits  as  that  of 

»  Id.  t.  iii  p.  319.  2  Sismondi,  p.  324.  8  id.  t.  iii.  p.  328. 


Italy.  THE  FIRST  DOGE.  433 

Troy.  They  have  not  proved  po  intere?ting  to  po:^tonty. 
The  GhihehiKS  continued  lor  a  length  of  tune  exeluded  I'rom 
tlie  city,  but  in  jjossession  of  the  seaport  of  Savona,  whence 
they  traded  and  equipped  fleets,  as  a  rival  republic,  and  even 
entered  uito  a  separate  war  with  Venice.^  Experience  of 
the  uselessness  of  hostility,  and  the  loss  to  which  they  ex- 
posed their  common  country,  produced  a  reconciliation,  or 
rather  a  compromise,  in  lo."U,  when  the  Ghibelins  returned 
to  Genoa.  But  the  people  felt  that  many  years  of  misfor- 
tune had  been  owing  to  the  private  enmities  of  four  over- 
bearing families.  An  ojjportunity  soon  offered  of  reducing 
their  inthience  within  very  narrow  bounds. 

The  Ghibelin  faction  was  at  the  head  of  affairs  in  1339, 
a  Doria  and  a  Spinola  being  its  leaders,  when  the  „,   ,.      , 

T  !•        ^  jt  °  ^  ,       1       Election  of 

discontent  ot  a  large  fleet  m  want  or  pay  broke  the  first 
out  in  ojien  insurrection.  Savona  and  the  neigh-  ^"°'^' 
boring  towns  took  arms  avowedly  against  the  aristocrat ical 
tyranny  ;  and  the  cajtital  was  itself  on  the  point  of  joining 
the  insurgents.  There  was,  by  the  Genoese  constitution,  a 
magistrate  named  the  Altbot  of  tiie  people,  acting  as  a  kind 
of  tribune  for  their  protection  against  the  oppression  of  the 
nol)ility.  His  functions  are  not,  however,  in  any  book  I  Iiave 
seen,  very  clearly  deflned.  This  office  liad  been  abolished  by 
the  present  goveniment,  and  it  was  the  first  demand  of  the 
malecontents  that  it  should  be  restoreil.  This  was  acceded 
to.  and  twenty  delegates  were  appointetl  to  make  the  choice. 
AVhile  they  delayed,  and  the  populace  was  grown  weary  with 
waiting,  a  nameless  artisan  called  out  from  an  elevated  station 
that  he  could  direct  them  to  a  fit  ])orson.  "When  the  people, 
in  jest,  bade  him  speak  on,  he  uttered  the  name  of  Simon 
Boccanegra.  This  was  a  man  of  noble  birth,  and  well  es- 
teemed, who  wa<  then  present  among  the  crowd.  The  word 
wa.s  suddenly  taken  uj) ;  a  cry  was  heard  that  Boccanegi-a 
should  be  abbot ;  he  was  instiuitly  brought  forward,  and  th(3 
sword  of  justice  forced  into  his  hand.  As  soon  as  silence 
could  be  obtained  he  mo<le>tly  thanked  them  for  their  favor, 
Init  declined  an  ollice  which  his  nobility  dis(pialili<-d  him  fiom 
exercising.  At  tliis  a  single  voice  out  of  the  crowd  exclaimed, 
"  Sii/uior.' "  and  (his  title  was  reverberated  from  every  side. 
Fearfid  of  worse  coii-ei|ueiices,  the  actual  magistrates  urged 

I  Villani,  1.  ix.  paHKiui. 
vor..   I.  28 


434  REVOLUTIONS  OF  GENOA.     Chap.  III.  Part  II. 

him  to  comply  with  the  people  and  accept  the  office  of  abbot. 
But  Boccanegra,  addressing  the  assembly,  declared  his  readi- 
ness to  become  their  abbot,  signior,  or  whatever  they  would. 
The  cry  of  "  Signior  !  "  was  now  louder  than  before  ;  while 
others  cried  out,  "  Let  him  be  duke  ! "  The  latter  title  was 
received  with  greater  approbation ;  and  Boccanegra  was  con- 
ducted to  the  palace,  the  first  duke,  or  doge,  of  Genoa.-"^ 

Caprice  alone,  or  an  idea  of  more  pomp  and  dignity,  led 
Subsequent  the  populacc,  we  may  conjecture,  to  prefer  this 
revolutions,  ^jdg  ^q  fi^r^f  of  gignior ;  but  it  produccd  important 
and  highly  beneficial  consequences.  In  all  neighboring  cities 
an  arbitrary  government  had  been  already  establislied  under 
their  respective  signiors  ;  the  name  was  associated  with  indef- 
inite power,  while  that  of  doge  had  only  been  taken  by  the 
elective  and  very  limited  chief  magistrate  of  another  mari- 
time re})ublic.  Neither  Boccanegra  nor  his  successors  ever 
rendered  their  authority  unlimited  or  hereditary.  The  con- 
stitution of  Genoa,  from  an  oppressive  ai'istocracy,  became 
a  mixture  of  the  two  other  forms,  with  an  exclusion  of  the 
nobles  from  power.  Tliose  four  great  families  who  had  dom- 
ineered alternately  for  almost  a  century  lost  their  influence 
at  home  after  the  revolution  of  1339.  Yet,  what  is  remarka- 
ble enough,  they  were  still  selected  in  preference  for  the 
highest  of  trusts ;  their  names  are  still  identified  with  the 
glory  of  Genoa ;  her  fleets  hardly  sailed  but  under  a  Doria, 
a  Spinola,  or  a  Grimaldi ;  such  confidence  could  the  republic 
bestow  upon  their  patriotism,  or  that  of  those  whom  they 
commanded.  Meanwhile  two  or  three  new  families,  a  ple- 
beian oligarchy,  filled  their  place  in  domestic  honors  ;  the 
Adorni,  the  Fregosi,  the  Montalti,  contended  for  the  ascend- 
ant. From  their  competition  ensued  revolutions  too  numer- 
ous almost  for  a  separate  history;  in  four  years,  from  1390 
to  1394,  the  doge  was  ten  times  changed;  swept  away  or 
brought  back  in  the  fluctuations  of  popular  tumult.  Antoni- 
otto  Adorno,  four  times  doge  of  Genoa,  had  sought  the  friend- 
ship of  Gian  Galeazzo  Visconti ;  but  that  crafty  tyrant 
meditated  the  subjugation  of  the  republic,  and  played  her 
factions  against  one  another  to  render  her  fall  secure.  Adorno 
perceived  tliat  tliere  was  no  hope  for  ultimate  independence 
but  by  making  a  temporary  sacrifice  of  it.     His  own  power, 

1  G.  Stella.    Annal.  Genuenses,  in  Script.  Rer.  Ital.  t.  xvii.  p.  1072. 


Italy.  YF.XICE.  43.3 

ambitious  a*  he  had  been,  he  vohmtarily  resigned,  and  placid 
the  republic  under  the  protection  or  signiorv  of"  the  kiu'j  of 
France.  Terms  were  stipulated  very  favorable  to  her  liber- 
ties ;  but,  with  a  French  garrison  once  received  into  the  city, 
they  were  not  always  sure  of  observance.* 

While  Genoa  lost  even  her  political  independence,  Venice 
became   more  conspicuous  and   i)owerful  than  be-  ^    . 

\  GDIC© 

lore.      That  fixmous    republic    deduces    its    origi- 
nal,  and    even    its  liberty,    from  an    era    beyond   the    com- 
mencement of  the  middle  ages.     The  Venetians  boast  of  a 
perpetual  emancipation  from  the  yoke  of  barbarians.     From 
that  ignominious  servitude  some  natives,  or,  as  their  histori- 
ans will  have  it,  nobles,  of  Aipiilcja  and  neighboring  towns,- 
fled  to  the  small  cluster  of  islands  that  rise  amidst  the  shoals 
at  the  mouth  of  the   Brenta.     Here  they  built  Jhe  town  of 
Rivoalto,  the  modern  Venice,  in  421  ;  l)ut  their  chief  settle- 
ment was.  till    the  beginning  of  the  ninth  century,  at  ^lala- 
mocco.     A  living  writer  has,  in  a  passage  of  remarkable  elo- 
quence, describcil  the  sovereign  n-public  immoveable   uj^n 
the   bosom   of  the   waters   from  which   her  palaces   emerge, 
contemplating  the  successive  tides  of  continental  invasion,  the 
rise  and   fall  of  emj)ires,  the  change  of  dynasties,  the  whole 
moving  scene  of  human  revcdution,  till,  in  her  own  turn,  the 
last  surviving  witness  of  anticjuity,  the  common  link  between 
two  periods  of  civilization,  has  submitted  to  the  destroving 
hand  of  time.'     Some  part  of  this  renown  must,  on  a  col<l- 
blooded  scrutiny,  be  detracted  from  Venice.     Her  independ- 
ence was,  at  the  best,  the   fruit  of  her  obscuritv. 
Neglected   up<.n    their   i^lan-ls.  a   people  of  fisher-  ""tu^tSe" 
men    might    without    molestation   elect   their  own  •^■"'"ek 
magistrates;  a  very  equivocal  proof  of  sovereignty  ^"'""'" 
in  cities  much  more  considerable  than  Venice.     But  both  the 
western  aixl  the  eastern  empire  alternately  pretended  to  ex- 
ercise dominion  over  her ;  sln^  was  conquered  by  Pepin,  son 
of  Charlemagne,  and  restored  by  him,  as  the  chronicles  say, 
to  the  f  Jreek  emperor  Nicephorus.     There  is  every  appear- 
ance  that   tli(!  \'eiieiians  had  always  considered  them-elves 
a**  subject,  in  a  large  sense  not  exclusive  of  their  municipal 
Kelf-government,  to  the  eastern  empire.*     And  this  connec- 

1  Si                 •    ril.  p.  237.  .307.  '  Slsmon.li,  t.  I.  p.  3<">9. 

*  f                     I'lo.  imyi)  Saiiuto  bnugb-  *  Nli-fplionm   Btipiiliitos   with   (Miarle- 

tlly.  iiMi    11   )>:ii<u>ri.  roini-  ebbe  Koma,  mnirix*   fur   bin   fiiithliil   city   of  Venice, 

lua  (U  poU-iiti.  e  Doblli.  Quw   In   duvutiouu  linpvril   lllihatuj  fte- 


436  ACQUISITIONS  OF  VEXICE.    Chap.  III.  Fart  II. 

tion  was  not  broken,  in  the  eai'ly  part,  at  least,  of  the  tenth 
century.  But,  for  every  essential  purpose,  Venice  might 
long  before  be  deemed  an  independent  state.  Her  doge  was 
not  confirmed  at  Constantinople ;  she  paid  no  tribute,  and 
lent  no  assistance  in  war.  Her  own  navies,  in  the  ninth  cen- 
tury, encountered  the  Normans,  the  Saracens,  and  the  Scla- 
voniaus  in  the  Adriatic  Sea.  Upon  the  coast  of  Dalmatia 
were  several  Greek  cities,  which  the  empire  had  ceased  to 
protect,  and  which,  like  Venice  itself,  became  republics  for 
want  of  a  master.  Ragusa  was  one  of  these,  and,  more  for- 
tunate than  the  rest,  survived  as  an  independent  city  till  our 
Conquest  of  own  age.  In  return  for  the  assistance  of  Venice, 
a  matia.  ([^q^q  little  scaports  jjut  themselves  under  her  gov- 
A.D.  997.  ernment ;  the  Sclavonian  pirates  were  repressed  ; 
and  after  acquiring,  partly  by  consent,  partly  by  arms,  a 
large  tract  of  maritime  territory,  the  doge  took  the  title  of  duke 
of  Dalmatia,  which  is  said  by  Dandolo  to  have  been  confirmed 
at  Constantinople.  Three  or  four  centuries,  however,  elapsed 
before  the  republic  became  secure  of  these  conquests,  which 
were  frequently  wrested  from  her  by  rebellions  of  the  inhab- 
itants, or  by  her  powerful  neighbor,  the  king  of  Hungary. 

A  more  important  source  of  Venetian  greatness  was  com- 
Her  acnui-  nicrce.  In  the  darkest  and  most  barbarous  period, 
sitions  in       befoi'e  Gcuoa  or  even  Pisa  had  entered  into  mer- 

the  Levant.  ^.i  v      tt       •  •     i  j.         • 

cantile  pursuits,  Venice  carried  on  an  extensive 
traffic  both  with  the  Greek  and  Saracen  regions  of  the  Le- 
vant. The  crusades  enriched  and  aggrandized  Venice  more, 
perhaps,  than  any  other  city.  Her  splendor  may,  however, 
be  dated  from  the  taking  of  Constantinople  by  the  Latins  in 
1204.  In  this  famous  enterprise,  which  diverted  a  great  ar- 
mament destined  for  the  recovery  of  Jerusalem,  the  French 
and  Venetian  nations  were  alone  engaged ;  but  the  former 
only  as  private  adventurers,  the  latter  with  the  whole  strength 

terant.   DanduliChronicon,  in  Muratori,  Giannone's  history,  t.  ii.   p.   283,  edit. 

Script.  Rer.  Ital.  t.  xii.  p.  156.     In  the  Haia,   1753.     Muratori  informs  us  that 

tenth    century    Constantine    Porphyro-  so  late  as  1084  the  doge  obtained  the  title 

genitus,  in  liis  book  De  Administratione  of    Imperialis    Protosevastos    from    the 

Imperii,  claims  the  Venetians  as  his  sub-  court  of  Constantinople  ;   a  title  which 

jects,  though  he  admits  that  they  had,  he  continued    always   to    use.     (Aunali 

for  peace  sake,  paid  tribute  to  Pepin  ami  d'  Italia,  ad  ann.)     But  I  should  lay  no 

his  successors  as  kings  of  Italy,   p.  71.  stress  on  this  circumstance.     The  Greek, 

I  have  not  read  the  famous  Squittiuio  like   the   German  emperors   in    modern 

della  liberti  Veneta,  which  gave  the  re-  times,   had    a  mint   of   specious    titles, 

public  so  much  offence  in  the  .seventeenth  whiclx     passed    for    ready    money    over 

century  ;  but  a  very  strong  case  is  made  Christendom, 
out  against  their  early  independence  in 


Italy.  HER  GOVERXMEXT.  437 

of  tlu'ir  ri'jmblic  umler  its  dotre  Henry  Daiulolo.  Three 
e'ghtlis  of  the  eity  of  Constantinople,  and  an  equal  propor- 
tion  of  the  province:?,  were  allotted  to  tiieni  in  the  partition 
of  the  spoil,  and  the  dojre  took  the  sinirular  hut  accurate  title, 
Duke  of  three  eigths  of  the  Konian  empire.  Their  share 
was  increased  hy  purchases  from  less  opulent  crusaders,  es- 
]>ec;:dly  one  of  much  importance,  the  islaixl  of  Candia.  wliich 
they  retained  till  the  miildle  of  the  seventeenth  ccnturv.  These 
foreign  actpiisitions  were  generally  granted  out  in  fief  to  pri- 
vate Venetian  nobles  under  the  supremacy  of  the  republic.^ 
It  was  thus  that  the  Ionian  islan<ls.  to  adopt  the  vocabulary 
of  our  day,  came  under  the  dominion  of  Venice,  and  giiar- 
anteeil  that  sovereignty  winch  she  now  began  to  affect  over 
tiie  Adriatic.  Those  of  the  Archipcdago  were  lost  in  the 
sixteenth  century.  Tiiis  political  greatness  was  sustained 
by  an  increasing  commerce.  No  Christian  state  preserved 
so  considerable  an  intercourse  with  the  Moliammedans. 
While  Genoa  kept  the  keys  of  the  Black  Sea  by  lier  colo- 
nies of  Pera  and  Catfa,  Venice  directed  her  vessels  to  Acre 
and  Alexandria.  These  connections,  as  is  the  natural  eftect 
of  trade,  deadened  the  sense  of  religious  anti|)athy  ;  an<l  the 
Venetians  were  sometimes  charged  with  ol)strncting  all  efforts 
towards  a  new  crusade,  or  even  any  partial  attacks  upon  the 
Mniiannneilan  nations. 

TIk-  earliest  form  of  government  at  Venice,  as  we  collect 
from  an  epistle  of  Cassiodorus  in  the  sixth  century,  Venetian 
wa>  by  twelve  annual  tribunes.  Perhaps  the  eo''^"""ent. 
union  of  the  ditierent  islanch'rs  was  merely  federative. 
However,  in  GI)7,  they  resolved  to  (dect  a  chief  magistrate 
by  name  of  duke,  or,  in  their  diah'ct,  doge  of  Venice. 
No  couiU'iN  appear  to  have  limited  his  powt-r.  or  represented 
the  national  will.  The  doge  was  general  and  judge;  he  was 
sometimes  permitted  to  associate  his  son  with  him,  and  thus 
to  pn-pare  the  road  for  hereditary  power  ;  his  government 
had  all  the  prerogatives,  ami,  as  far  as  in  such  a  stale  of 
maimers  was  possible,  the  pomp,  of  a  monarchy,  liiit  lie 
acti'd  in  im|)ort:int  matters  with  the  concurrence  of  a  general 
a-«-ml)ly,  though,  from  the  want  of  positive  restraints,  his 
executive  government  might  be  considered  as  nearly  abs(»- 
lute.     Time,   however,  demonstrated  to  the  Venetians   the 

1  SUmondi,  t.  U.  p.  431. 


438 


GOVEENJEENT  OF  VENICE.    Chap.  III.  Paet  II. 


imperfections  of  such  a  constitution.  Limitations  were  ac- 
cordingly imposed  on  the  doge  in  1032  ;  he  was  prohibited 
from  associating  a  son  in  the  government,  and  obliged  to  act 
with  the  consent  of  two  elected  counsellors,  and,  on  impor- 
tant occasions,  to  call  in  some  of  the  principal  citizens.  No 
other  change  appears  to  have  taken  place  till  1172,  long 
after  every  other  Italian  city  had  provided  for  its  liberty  by 
constitutional  laws,  more  or  less  successful,  but  always  mani- 
festing a  good  deal  of  contrivance  and  complication.  Venice 
was,  however,  dissatisfied  with  her  existing  institutions. 
General  assemblies  were  found,  in  practice,  inconvenient 
and  unsatisfactory.  Yet  some  adequate  safeguard  against 
a  magistrate  of  indefinite  powers  was  required  by  freemen. 
A  repix'sentative  council,  as  in  other  republics,  justly  appear- 
ed the  best  innovation  that  could  be  introduced.^ 

The  great  council  of  Venice,  as  established  in  1172,  was 
to  consist  of  four  hundred  and  eighty  citizens,  eqvially  taken 
from  the  six  districts  of  the  city,  and  annually  renewed.  But 
the  election  was  not  made  immediately  by  the  people.  Two 
electors,  called  tribunes,  from  each  of  the  six  districts,  ap- 
pointed the  members  of  the  council  by  separate  nomination. 
These  tribunes  at  first  were  themselves  chosen  by  the  people, 
so  that  the  intervention  of  this  electoral  body  did  not  appar- 
ently trespass  upon  the  democratical  character  of  the  consti- 
tution. But  the  great  council,  principally  composed  of  men 
of  high  birth,  and  invested  by  the  law  with  the  appointment 
of  the  doge,  and  of  all  the  councils  of  magistracy,  seem, 
early  in  the  thirteenth  century,  to  have  assumed  the  right  of 
naming  their  own  constituents.  Besides  appointing  the  trib- 
unes, they  took  upon  themselves  another  privilege,  that  of 
confirming  or  rejecting  their  successors  before  they  resigned 
their  functions.  These  usurpations  rendered  the  amiual 
election  almost  nugatory ;  the  same  members  were  usually 
renewed ;  and  though  the  dignity  of  councillor  was  not  yet 
hereditary,  it  remained,  upon  the  whole,  in  the  same  families. 
In  this  transitional  state  the  Venetian  government  continued 
during  the  thirteenth  century ;  the  people  actually  debarred 


1  Sismondi,  t.  iii.  p.  287.  As  I  have 
never  read  the  Storia  civile  Veneta  by 
Vettor  SaDdi,  in  niue  vols.  4to.,  or  even 
Laugier's  History  of  Venice,  my  reliance 
has  chiefly  been  placed  on  M.  Sismondi, 
who  has  made  use  of  Sandi,  the  latest, 
and  probably  the  most  accurate,  histo- 


rian. To  avoid  freqxient  reference,  the 
principal  passages  in  Sismondi  relative  to 
the  domestic  revolutions  of  Venice  are 
t.  j.  p.  323.  t.  iii.  p.  287-300,  t.  iv.  p.  349- 
370.  The  history  of  Daru  had  not  been 
published  when  this  was  written. 


Italy.  GOVERNMENT   OF  VENICE.  439 

of  power,  but  an  liercditarv  aristocraoy  not  completely  or 
legally  contii-nu'd.  The  right  of  electing,  or  rather  of  re- 
electing, the  great  council  was  transfeiTed,  in  1297,  from  the 
tribunes,  whose  othce  wjxs  abolished,  to  the  council  of  forty ; 
they  kdloted  upon  the  names  of  the  members  who  already  sat ; 
and  whoever  obtained  twelve  favoring  balls  out  of  forty  re- 
tained his  place.  The  vacancies  occasioned  by  rejection  or 
death  were  tilled  up  by  a  suj)plemental  list  formed  by  three 
electors  nominated  in  the  great  council.  But  they  were  ex- 
pressly prohibited,  by  laws  of  1298  and  1300,  from  insei'ting 
the  name  of  any  one  whose  paternal  ancestors  had  not  en- 
joyed the  same  honor.  Thus  an  exclusive  hereditary  aris- 
tocracy was  finally  established.  And  the  personal  rights  of 
noble  descent  were  rendered  complete  in  1319  by  the  aboli- 
tion of  all  elective  forms.  By  the  constitution  of  Venice  as 
it  was  then  settled,  every  descendant  of  a  member  of  the 
great  council,  on  attaining  twenty-five  years  of  age,  entered 
as  of  right  into  that  body,  which,  of  course,  became  un- 
limited in  its  numbers.^ 

But  an  assembly  so  numerous  as  the  great  council,  even 
before  it  was  thus  thrown  0})en  to  all  the  nobility,  could 
never  have  conducted  tlie  public  atfairs  with  that  secrecy 
and  steadiness  which  were  characteristic  of  Venice ;  and 
without  an  intermediary  power  between  the  doge  and  the 
patrician  muhitude  the  constitution  would  have  gained 
nothing  in  stability  to  compensate  for  the  loss  of  popular 
freedom.  The  great  council  had  i)roceeded  very  soon  after 
its  in-titution  to  limit  the  ducal  prerogatives.  That  of  exer- 
cising criminal  justice,  a  trust  of  vast  importance,  was  trans- 
ferred in  1179  to  a  council  of  forty  members  annually 
cho-en.  Tlie  executive  government  itself  was  tlioiight  too 
considerable  for  the  doge  without  some  material  liniilations. 
Instead  of  naming  his  own  assistants  or  pregadi,  he  was 
only  to  preside  in  a  council  of  sixty  members,  to  whom  the 
care  of  the  state  in  all  domestic  and  foreign  relations,  and 

•  T  lii:il  ch:iniri-H  l)ct»een  1297  noble  had  a  riglit  to  take  his  scat  in  the 

anil  mt  iiimli- known  liy  San Jl,  grpnt  rounril.     Uiit  tlie  niinifs  of  those 

from  »ii'.Mi    .1    Sii.niiin'li  ha;<  intn)ilu<-cii  who  had  paHHeil  the  a^e  of  twenty  were 

th'-  fa'-t-  into  Iiii4  own  hi-Iory.     I  notire  annually  put  into  an   urn,  .iml  one  fifth 

thi<,  iHTiini'e  all  fonm-r  wrlt<Tii,  both  an-  drawn  out   by   lot,   who  were  tliereu|ion 

flent  and  nio<l<Tn,  (Ix  the  ronipli-ti'  and  adniitteil.     On  an  averaRe,  therefore,  tho 

final  e«tjil>li«liinent  of  Ihu  Venetian  arin-  a^e  of  ailini.x.xion  wan  about  twenty-three, 

torrnry  in  12»7.  .lanotuK  cle   Kcp.   Venet. — Contarini. — 

T»<'nlv-llv<-   yenrn   complete   wax    tho  Ann-lot  de  la  HouKmiyu. 
(tatulnble  agf  at  which  eTery   Venetian 


440  GOVEENMENT  OF  VENICE.    Chap.  III.  Part  II. 

the  previous  deliberation  upon  proposals  submitted  to  the 
great  council,  was  confided.  This  council  of  pregadi,  gen- 
erally called  in  later  times  the  senate,  was  enlarged  in 
the  fourteenth  century  by  sixty  additional  members ;  and 
as  a  great  part  of  the  magistrates  had  also  seats  in  it,  the 
whole  number  amounted  to  between  two  and  three  hundred. 
Though  the  legislative  power,  properly  speaking,  remained 
with  the  great  council,  the  senate  used  to  impose  taxes,  and 
had  the  exclusive  right  of  making  peace  and  war.  It  was 
annually  renewed,  like  almost  all  other  councils  at  Venice, 
by  the  great  council.  But  since  even  this  body  was  too  nu- 
mei'ous  for  the  preliminary  discussion  of  business,  six  coun- 
cillors, forming,  along  with  the  doge,  the  signiory,  or  visible 
representative  of  the  republic,  were  empowered  to  dispatch 
orders,  to  correspond  with  ambassadors,  to  treat  with  foreign 
states,  to  convoke  and  preside  in  the  councils,  and  perform 
other  duties  of  an  administration.  In  part  of  these  they 
were  obliged  to  act  with  the  concurrence  of  what  was  term- 
ed the  college,  comprising,  besides  themselves,  certain  select 
councillors,  from  ditferent  constituted  authorities.-^ 

It  might  be  imagined  that  a  dignity  so  shorn  of  its  lustre 
as  that  of  doo:e  would  not  excite  an  overweenino;  ambition. 
But  the  Venetians  were  still  jealous  of  extinguished  power ; 
and  Avhile  their  constitution  was  yet  immature,  the  great 
council  planned  new  methods  of  restricting  their  chief  mag- 
istrate. An  oath  was  taken  by  the  doge  on  his  election,  so 
compi'ehensive  as  to  embrace  every  possible  check  upon  un- 
due influence.  He  was  bound  not  to  correspond  with  foreign 
states,  or  to  open  their  letters,  except  in  the  presence  of  the 
signiory;  to  acquire  no  property  beyond  the  Venetian  do- 
minions, and  to  resign  Avhat  he  might  already  possess ;  to  in- 
terpose, directly  or  indirectly,  in  no  judicial  process ;  and  not 
to  permit  any  citizen  to  use  tokens  of  subjection  in  saluting 
him.  As  a  further  secui'ity,  they  devised  a  remarkably  com- 
plicated mode  of  supplying  the  vacancy  of  his  office.  Elec- 
tion by  open  suffi-age  is  always  liable  to  tumult  or  corruption  ; 
nor  does  the  method  of  secret  ballot,  while  it  prevents  the 

1  The  college  of  Savj  consisted  of  six-  bate.  The  signiory  had  the  same  privi- 
teen  persons;  and  it  possessed  the  »/!  (Via-  lege.  Thus  the  virtu.al  powers  even  of 
live  in  all  public  measures  that  required  the  senate  were  far  more  limited  than 
the  assent  of  the  senate.  For  no  single  tliey  appear  at  first  siglit ;  and  no  possi- 
senator.  much  less  any  noble  of  the  great  bility  remained  of  innovation  in  the  fun- 
council,  could  propose  anything  for  de-  damental  principles  of  the  constitution. 


Italy.  GOVERXMEXT  OF  VEXICE.  441 

one.  afford  in  practice  any  adequate  security  ajrainst  the 
other.  Ehx'tion  by  lot  incurs  the  risk  of  placinjr  incapable 
persons  in  situations  of  arduous  trust.  The  Venetian  scheme 
was  intended  to  combine  the  two  modes  without  their  evils, 
by  leavinjr  the  absolute  choice  of  their  doire  to  electors  taken 
by  lot.  It  was  ]ire>umed  that,  among  a  competent  number 
of  ]iersons.  thoujrh  taken  promiscuoush',  good  sense  and  right 
jirinriples  would  gain  such  an  ascendency  as  to  prevent  any 
flagrantly  improper  nomination,  if  undue  influence  could  be 
excluded.  For  this  purpose  the  ballot  was  rendered  exceed- 
inglv  complicated,  that  no  possible  ingenuity  or  stratagem 
might  ascertain  the  electoral  body  before  the  last  moment. 
A  single  lottery,  if  fairly  conducted,  is  certainly  sufficient  for 
this  end.  At  Venice  as  many  balls  as  there  were  members 
of  the  great  council  present  were  placed  in  an  urn.  Thirty 
of  these  were  gilt.  The  holders  of  gilt  balls  were  reduced 
by  a  second  ballot  to  nine.  The  nine  elected  forty,  whom 
lot  reduced  to  twelve.  The  twelve  chose  twenty-five  by 
separate  nomination.^  The  twenty-five  were  reduced  by  lot 
to  nine  ;  and  each  of  the  nine  chose  five.  These  forty-five 
were  reduced  to  eleven  as  before  ;  the  eleven  elected  forty- 
one,  who  were  the  ultimate  voters  for  a  doge.  Tiiis  intri- 
cacv  ap])ears  useless,  and  consequently  absurd  ;  but  the  original 
principle  of  a  Venetian  election  (for  something  of  the  same 
kind  was  applied  to  all  their  councils  and  magistrates)  may 
not  alwavs  be  nnwortliy  of  imitation.  In  one  of  our  best 
nio«lei-n  statutes,  that  for  regulating  the  trials  of  contested 
elections,  we  have  seen  this  mixture  of  chance  and  selection 
verv  happily  introduced.^ 

An  hereditary  prince  could  never  have  remained  quiet  in 
such  trammels  as  were  imposed  upon  the  doge  of  Venice. 
But  earlv  ])roiudice  accustoms  men  to  consider  restraint,  even 
u|Mtn  themselves,  as  advantageous;  and  the  limitations  of  du- 
cal power  appeared  to  every  Venetian  as  fundamental  as  the 
g?*cat  hiws  (if  the  Englisli  consfitutiori  do  to  ourselves.  INFany 
d  >'_'es  of  Venice,  (-speciidly  in  the  middle  ages,  were  consid- 
eral)le  men  ;  but  they  were  content  with  the  functions  assigned 

>  Amolot  dn  In  noii««iyi*  annnrtu  thin:  ronxon  to  rlouht  whether  irro.'iKorlnstnnrod 

hut.  nTf>riliii({  t/)  <'ontnriiil,  the  method  of  lartiiil  or  tiiijiiit.  <ir  at  lust  crroiiroiis, 

wnc  by  tmllot.  detiTiiiiiiiition  hiive  not  tjiki'ii  pliice  sl.iro 

5  Thin   WM   writti-n    >t>oiit    1810.     Tho  a  new  trihuiml  whh  erertcil.   tlian  roiild 

•tntiiti-  to   whirh   I  nllnde   iiri-vi   out  of  )m>  hnjiiited   to  thu  celelinited  (ireiirillo 

(BTor  afUrwardJ.    Itut  there  U  too  much  Act.    {18(0.] 


442  GOVERNMENT  OF  VENICE.    Chap.  III.  Part  11. 

to  them,  which,  if  they  could  avoid  the  tantaHzing  comparison 
of  sovereign  princes,  were  enough  for  the  ambition  of  repub- 
licans. For  life  the  chief  magistrates  of  their  country,  her 
noble  citizens  for  ever,  they  might  thank  her  in  their  own 
name  for  what  she  gave,  and  in  that  of  their  posterity  for 
what  she  withheld.  Once  only  a  doge  of  Venice  was  tempted 
,„-c  to  betray  the  freedom  of  the  republic.  Marin 
Falieri,  a  man  far  advanced  in  life,  engaged,  from 
some  petty  resentment,  in  a  wild  intrigue  to  overturn  the 
government.  The  conspiracy  was  soon  discovered,  and  the 
doge  avowed  his  guilt.  An  aristocracy  so  firm  and  so 
severe  did  not  hesitate  to  order  his  execution  in  the  ducal 
palace. 

For  some  years  after  what  was  called  the  closing  of  the 
great  council  by  the  law  of  1296,  which  excluded  all  but  the 
families  actually  in  possession,  a  good  deal  of  discontent 
showed  itself  among  the  commonalty.  Several  commotions 
took  place  about  the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth  century,  with 
the  object  of  restoring  a  more  popular  regimen.  Upon  the 
suppression  of  the  last,  in  1310,  the  aristocracy  sacrificed  their 
own  individual  freedom,  along  with  that  of  the  people,  to  the 
preservation  of  an  imaginary  privilege.  They  established 
the  famous  council  of  ten,  that  most  remarkable  part  of  the 
Venetian  constitution.  This  council,  it  should  be  observed, 
consisted  in  fact  of  seventeen,  comprising  the  signiory,  or  the 
doge  and  his  six  councillors,  as  well  as  the  ten  j^roperly  so 
called.  The  council  of  ten  had  by  usage,  if  not  by  right,  a 
controlling  and  dictatorial  power  over  the  senate  and  other 
magistrates,  rescinding  their  decisions,  and  ti'eating  separately 
with  foreign  princes.  Their  vast  influence  strengthened  the 
executive  government,  of  which  they  formed  a  part,  and 
gave  a  vigor  to  its  movements  which  the  jealousy  of  the 
councils  would  possibly  have  impeded.  But  they  are  chiefly 
known  as  an  arbitrary  and  inquisitorial  tribunal,  the  standing- 
tyranny  of  Venice.  Excluding  the  old  council  of  forty,  a 
regular  court  of  criminal  judicature,  not  only  from  the  inves- 
tigation of  treasonable  charges  but  of  several  other  crimes 
of  magnitude,  they  inquired,  they  judged,  they  punished,  ac- 
cording to  what  they  called  reason  of  state.  The  public  eye 
never  penetrated  the  mystery  of  their  proceedings ;  the  ac- 
cused was  sometimes  not  heard,  never  confronted  with  wit- 
nesses ;  the   condemnation    was   secret  as   the   inquiry,    the 


Italy.  GOVERNMENT  OF  VENICE.  44:3 

puni.-lunent  umlivulL'tHl  like  botli.^  Tlic  terrible  and  odious  nia- 
eliiiiery  of  a  police,  the  insidious  spy,  the  stipendiary  iutbruier, 
unknown  to  the  carelessness  of  feudal  governments,  found  their 
natural  soil  in  the  republic  of  Venice.  Tumultuous  assem- 
blies were  scarcely  possible  in  so  peculiar  a  city ;  and  private 
conspiracies  never  failed  to  be  detected  by  the  vigilance  of 
the  council  of  ten.  Compared  with  the  Tuscan  republics  the 
tranquillity  of  ^'enice  is  truly  striking.  The  names  of  Guelf 
and  Ghibelin  hardly  raised  any  emotion  in  her  streets,  though 
the  government  was  considered  in  the  first  part  of  the  four- 
teenth ciMitury  as  rather  inclined  towards  tiie  latter  party ."- 
But  the  wildest  excesses  of  tiiction  are  less  dishonoring  than 
the  stillness  and  moral  degradation  of  servitude.^ 

It  was  a  very  common  theme  with  political  writers  till 
about  the  beginning  of  the  hust  century,  when  Venice  fell 
almost  into  obhvion,  to  descant  upon  the  wisdom  of  this  gov- 
ernment. And,  indeed,  if  the  preservation  of  ancient  insti- 
tutions be,  as  st)me  appear  to  consider  it,  not  a  means  but  an 
end,  and  an  end  tor  which  tlie  rights  of  man  and  laws  of 
God  may  at  any  time  be  set  aside,  we  must  acknowledge  that 
it  was  a  wisely  constructed  system.  Formed  to  compress  the 
two  opj»iisite  forces  from  which  resist;ince  might  be  expected, 
it  kei)t  Ijotli  the  doge  and  the  people  in  perfect  subordination. 
Even  the  coalition  of  an  executive  magistrate  with  the  multi- 
tude, so  fatal  to  mo>t  aristocracies,  never  endangered  that  of 
Venice.  It  is  most  remarkal)le  that  a  part  of  the  constitution 
which  destroyed  every  man's  security,  and  incurred  general 
hatred,  was  still  maintained  by  a  sense  of  its  necessity.  The 
couni'il  of  ten,  annually  renewed,  might  annually  have  been 
annihilated.     Tiie  great  council  had  only  to  withhold  their 

1  Ilium  etiam   morom    obMrviint,  no  tian  i^OTernment:  but  Daru  informs  us 

reuin,  cum  >le  oo  ju'liriuni  l;ituri  «unt,  it  \ta»  by  a  law  enacted  in  1400.     Hist. 

in  roU'-tfiuin  a'linittJiiit i|uc  loijiiito-  de  Vc-niw.  I.  .VJ.     It  is  uoticeil  by  Auie- 

rtm,  aut  oniton-m  r|iii-iiipi;iiii,  (jui  i-jus  lot  de  la  Iloussayc,  who  tells  us  also,  us 

cnuwini  agut.     Coiitariiii  de  Itrp.  Vciict.  Daru  does,  tliat  the  nobility  evaded  the 

-  Villani    several   tiiiiei    sin-iilo)  of  the  law  by  secret  partnership  with  the  privi- 

VenetianJt  ax  n-ifular  OhilM-lins.     1.  Ix.  c.  Icged  merchants  or  cittadini,  who  formed 

2.  1.  X.  c.  K9,  &r.     Hut  thi.<  Is  put  much  a  separate  class  at  Venice.     This  was  the 

t'K)  iitroni?ly  :  thoujjh   thc-ir  (fovernniiint  custom  in  modern   times.     Itut   I    have 

may  have  had  a  iili;;ht  bias  toward*  that  never  understoixl  the  principle  or  com- 

fa'tioii,  thi'y  were  in  reality  neutral,  and  nion  sense    of  such   a   restriction,    espe- 

far  erioii;.'h   removed  fnim  any  domestic  clally  combined   with   that   other  fiinda- 

feud*  uiHMi  that  won".  mental  law  which  dlsi|ualili<>d  a  Venetian 

'  By  the  modern  law  of  Venice  a  noble-  nobleman  from  posses-^in;?  a  lainlcd  estate 

man  mul  I   unt  en^aiCe  in  trade  without  on  the  tern  lirma  of  the  n>[iulilic.     The 

dfp  ri   hi>  rank  :   I  do  not  finrl  latter,  however,  did  not  ext<Mid,  as  1  havo 

thl-  ,  oli.MTvi»l  by  Jannotti  and  )>een  infoniied,  to  Ualumtiu,  or  the  Ionian 

Confirtni,  tii>- uldejitwrit«n  ou  the  Vene-  Islands. 


444 


GOVERNMENT  OF  VENICE.     Chap.  III.  Part  II. 


suffrages  from  the  new  candidates,  and  the  tyranny  expired 
of  itself.  This  was  several  times  attempted  (I  speak  now  of 
more  modern  ages)  ;  bnt  the  nobles,  though  detesting  the 
council  of  ten,  never  steadily  persevered  in  refusing  to  re- 
elect it.  It  was,  in  fact,  become  essential  to  Venice.  So  great 
were  the  vices  of  her  constitution  that  she  could  not  endure 
their  remedies.  If  the  council  of  ten  had  been  abolished  at 
any  time  since  the  fifteenth  century,  if  the  removal  of  that 
jealous  despotism  had  given  scope  to  the  corruption  of  a  poor 
and  debased  aristocracy,  to  the  license  of  a  people  unworthy 
of  freedom,  the  republic  would  have  soon  lost  her  territorial 
possessions,  if  not  her  own  independence.  If,  indeed,  it  be 
true,  as  reported,  that  during  the  last  hundred  years  this  for- 
midable tribunal  had  sensibly  relaxed  its  vigilance,  if  the  Ve- 
netian government  had  become  less  tyrannical  through  sloth 
or  decline  of  national  spirit,  our  conjecture  will  have  acquired 
the  confirmation  of  experience.  Experience  has  recently 
shown  that  a  worse  calamity  than  domestic  tyranny  might 
befall  the  queen  of  the  Adriatic.  In  the  Place  of  St.  Mark, 
among  the  monuments  of  extinguished  greatness,  a  traveller 
may  regret  to  think  that  an  insolent  German  soldiery  has  re- 
placed even  the  senators  of  Venice.  Her  ancient  liberty,  her 
bright  and  romantic  career  of  glory  in  countries  so  dear  to  the 
imagination,  her  magnanimous  defence  in  the  war  of  Chiog- 
gia,  a  few  thinly  scattered  names  of  illustrious  men,  will  rise 
upon  his  mind,  and  mingle  with  his  indignation  at  the  treach- 
ery which  robbed  her  of  her  independence.  But  if  he  has 
learned  the  true  attributes  of  wisdom  in  civil  policy,  he  will 
not  easily  prostitute  that  word  to  a  constitution  formed  without 
reference  to  property  or  to  population,  that  vested  sovereign 
power  partly  in  a  body  of  impoverished  nobles,  partly  in  an 
overruling  despotism  ;  or  to  a  practical  system  of  government 
that  made  vice  the  ally  of  tyranny,  and  sought  impunity  for 
its  own  assassinations  by  encouraging  dissoluteness  of  private 
life.  Perhaps,  too,  the  wisdom  so  often  imputed  to  the  sen- 
ate in  its  foreign  policy  has  been  greatly  exaggerated.  The 
balance  of  power  established  in  Europe,  and  above  all  in  Italy, 
maintained  for  the  two  last  centuries  states  of  small  intrinsic 
resources,  without  any  efforts  of  their  own.  In  the  ultimate 
crisis,  at  least,  of  Venetian  liberty,  that  solemn  mockery  of 
statesmanship  was  exhibited  to  contempt ;  too  blind  to  avert 
danger,  too  cowardly  to  withstand  it,  the  most  ancient  gov- 


Italy.  STATE  OF  LOMUAUDV.  445 

ernment  of  Europe  made  not  an  instant's  resistance ;  the 
peasant-;  ot"  UiulerwaUl  died  ui)on  thoir  mountains  ;  the  nobles 
ot"  A'eiiiee  chniL;;  onlv  to  their  hves.^ 

Until  ahnost  the  middle  of  the  fonrteeuth  century  Venice 
had  been  content  without  any  territorial  possessions  in  Italy; 
unless  we  reckon  a  very  narrow  strip  of  sea-coast,  bordering 
ou  her  lagunes,  called  the  Dogato.     Neutral  in  Territorial 
the  great  contests  between   the  church   and  the  acfiuisitious 

1     .  a\        I'  •»•  1    .1     •  of  Veuice. 

empire,  between  the  tree  cities  and  their  sover- 
eigns, she  was  respected  by  ])oth  parties,  while  neither  ven- 
tured to  claim  her  as  an  ally,     liut  the  rapid  progress  of 
Mastino  della  Scala,  lord  of  Verona,  with  some  particular 
injuries,   led    the   senate   to  form    a    league   with   Florence 
against  him.     Villani  mentions  it  as  a  singular  honor  for  his 
country  to  have  become  the  conf('(lerate  of  the  Venetians, 
''  wlio,  tor  their  great  excellence  and  power,  had  never  allied 
themselves  with  any  state  or  prince,  except  at  their  ancient 
conquest  of  Constantinople  and  Romania."^     The  result  of 
this  combination  was  to  annex  the  district  of  Treviso  to  the 
Venetian  dominions.      l>ut  they  made  no  further  conquests 
in  that   age.      On  the  contrary,  they  lost  Treviso  in  the 
unfortunate  war  of  Chioggia,  and  did  n(»t  regaiii  it  till  l.')89. 
Nor  did  they  seriou.-ly  attempt  to  withstand  the  progre-s  of 
Gian  Galcazzo  Visconti,  who,  after  overthrowing  the  family 
of  Scala,  stretched  almost   to   the  Adriatic,  and  altojrether 
subverted  for  a  time  the  bahmce  of  power  in  Loml)ardy. 
But  upon  the  death  of  this  prince,  in   1404,  a  remarkable 
crisis  USok   place  in  that  country.      He   left  twostau-of 
sons.   Giovanni    Maria   and    Filippo   INFaria.  both  .^j"^,;^;""''^ 
young,  and  under  the   care  of  a  mother  who  wa.s  bcj^'inning 
little  fitted  for  her  situation.     Through  her  mis-  fifj-euth 
conduct  and  the  selfish  ambition  of  some  military  century. 

1  The  cimimntiincfs  to  which  Vpnicc  r|n;;e  himsplf  lies  in  that  of  the  .lesuif-i. 

was   n?<luc<r<l   in   her  last   atfony  by  the  The  words  Manini  Cineres  may  l>e  nM  1 

t'    '               1  I  tp-iirhery  fif  N;ii>iilc<iii,  unci  in  both,   whii-h  |irol):il)lv    was  tho  cause 

'                   rit  iiiiiMiiritiJlity  of  an  ••ITi-ctive  of  my  fort;i'(fiilni-iM.  |18.')').] 

«o    fully   i|c.«cril>eil   l>y    I):iru,  See  in  the  hMlrjIiur^h  Keview,  vol.  xii. 

•  Iter  by  IlolLn.  imluce  nie  to  p.  '.il'J.  an  account  of  u   hook  which  i*. 

I                      M-verity  of  thin  remark.     In  perhups,  little  known,   though   inten-sf- 

forimr  e-lilionx  I   hare  by  mixt.-ike  mid  inif  to  the  history  of  our  own  Hge :  a  col- 

thnt  the  \iu>i  iloge  of  Venice,  Manini,  in  lection  of  iliH-uments  iliustratiuK  the  fill 

biiri»-l  In  tie-  <hurch  of  the  Si-aizi,  with  of  the  ri'public  of  Venice.     The  .irlicle  i^ 

till-    ill-.!  ri|iii'iii    on     the    »tone,    .Manini  wi-ll  written,  ami.  1   presume,  contains  a 

Ciinr.--       'riri-<  cliiirch  wa;<  Indi-*-!!  built  faithful  aicount  of  the- work  ;  tin- author 

t.\     III.-    roritrit.nlloiiK    of    wvenil    iiohle  of  m  hlcji.  Signor  llar/oni.  iH  respecttMl  lui 

f:iniill<-",  ainonif  tlivni  the  .Manini.  mogt  u  patriotic  writer  in  Italy. 

of  wboiu  an  lutem-d  there  ;  but  the  loMt  '■'  L.  xl.  c.  4U. 


446  STATE  OF  LOMBARDY.    Chap.  III.  Part  II. 

leaders,  who  liad  commanded  Giaii  Galeazzo's  mercenaries, 
that  extensive  dominion  was  soon  broken  into  fragments. 
Bergamo,  Como,  Lodi,  Cremona,  and  other  cities  revolted, 
submittinsf  themselves  in  o;eneral  to  the  families  of  their 
former  princes,  the  earlier  race  of  usurpers,  who  had  for 
nearly  a  century  been  crushed  by  the  Visconti.  A  Gueh" 
faction  revived  after  the  name  had  long  been  proscribed  in 
Lombardy.  Francesco  da  Carrara,  lord  of  Padua,  availed 
himself  of  this  revolution  to  get  possession  of  Verona,  and 
seemed  likely  to  unite  all  the  cities  beyond  the  Adige.  No 
family  was  so  odious  to  the  Venetians  as  that  of  Carrara. 
Though  they  had  seemed  inditferent  to  the  more  real  danger 
in  Gian  Galeazzo's  lifetime,  they  took  up  arms  against  this 
inferior  enemy.  Both  Padua  and  Verona  were  reduced, 
and,  the  duke  of  Milan  ceding  Vicenza,  the  republic  of 
Venice  came  suddenly  into  the  possession  of  an  extensive 
territory.  Francesco  da  Carrara,  who  had  surrendered  in 
his  capital,  was  put  to  death  in  prison  at  Venice. 

NotAvithstanding  the  deranged  condition  of  the  Milanese, 
no  further  attempts  were  made  by  the  senate  of  Venice  for 
twenty  years.  They  had  not  yet  acquired  that  decided  love 
of  war  and  conquest  which  soon  began  to  influence  them 
against  all  the  rules  of  their  ancient  policy.  There  were  still 
left  some  wary  statesmen  of  the  old  school  to  check  ambitious 
designs.  Sanuto  has  preserved  an  interesting  account  of 
the  wealth  and  commerce  of  Venice  in  those  days.  This  is 
thrown  into  the  mouth  of  the  Doge  Mocenigo,  whom  he 
represents  as  dissuading  his  country,  with  his  dying  words, 
from  undertaking  a  war  against  Milan.  "  Through  peace 
our  city  has  eveiy  year,"  he  said,  "  ten  millions  of  ducats 
employed  as  mercantile  capital  in  different  parts  of  the 
world ;  the  annual  profit  of  our  traders  upon  this  sum 
amounts  to  four  millions.  Our  housing  is  valued  at  7,000,000 
ducats  ;  its  annual  rental  at  500,000.  Three  thousand  mer- 
chant-ships carry  on  our  trade ;  forty-three  galleys  and  thi'ee 
hundred  smaller  vessels,  manned  by  19,000  sailors,  secure 
our  naval  power.  Our  mint  has  coined  1,000,000  ducats 
within  the  year.  From  the  Milanese  dominions  alone  we 
draw  1,654,000  ducats  in  coin,  and  the  value  of  900,000 
more  in  cloths ;  our  profit  upon  this  traffic  may  be  reckoned 
at  600,000  ducats.  Proceeding  as  you  have  done  to  acquire 
this  wealth,  you  will  become  masters  of  all  the  gold  in  Chris- 


Italy.  WARS   OF  MIL.VJN'  AND   VENICE.  447 

tendom ;  but  w  ai-.  and  especially  unjust  war,  will  lead  infal- 
libly to  ruin.  Already  you  liave  spent  ;)0(),0(M)  diu-ats  in  the 
aeipiisition  ot"  Verona  and  I'adua  ;  yet  the  expense  ot"  pro- 
tecting these  places  absorbs  all  the  revenue  which  they  yield. 
Yon  have  manv  aniouir  yon.  men  ot"  probity  and  experience ; 
choose  one  ot"  these  to  succeed  me  ;  but  beware  of  Francesco 
Foseari.  If  he  is  doge,  you  will  soon  have  war,  and  war 
will  bring  poverty  and  loss  of  honor."  ^  Mocenigo  died,  and 
Foseari  became  doge  :  the  prophecies  of  the  former  were 
neglected;  and  it  cannot  wholly  be  atlirmed  that  they  were 
fnltilletl.  Yet  Venice  is  described  by  a  writer  thirty  years 
later  as  somewhat  impaired  in  opulence  by  her  long  warfare 
with  the  dukes  of  Milan. 

The  latter  had  recovered  a  great  part  of  their  dominions 
as  ra]>i<lly  as  they  had  lost  them.  (4iovanni  ^Maria,  ^varsof 
the  elder  brother,  a  monster  of  jjuilt  even  amonu  Miiim  and 
the  Visconti,  having  been  assassinated,  Filippi) 
Maria  assumed  the  government  of  ]\Iilan  and  Pavia,  almost 
his  oidy  possessions.  l?ut  though  weak  and  unwarlike  him- 
selt",  he  had  the  good  fortune  to  employ  Carmagnola,  one  of 
the  greatest  generals  of  that  military  age.  Most  of  the 
revolted  cities  were  tired  of  their  new  masters,  and,  their 
inclinations  conspiring  with  Carmagnola's  eminent  talents 
and  activity,  the  house  of  Visconti  reassumed  its  Ibrmer  as- 
cendency from  the  Sessia  to  the  Adige.  Its  fortunes  might 
have  been  still  more  j)rosperous  if  Filijtpo  INfaria  had  not 
ra~hly  as  well  as  ungratefully  oti"ended  Carmagnola.  That 
great  captain  retired  to  Venice,  and  inflamed  a  disposition 
toward-^  war  which  the  Florentines  and  the  duke  of  Savoy 
had  alrea<ly  excited.  Tiie  Venetians  had  previously  gained 
some  important  advantages  in  another  quarter,  by  reducing 
the  country  <jt"  Friuli,  with  part  of  Istria,  which  had  for  many 
centurie-;  depended  on  the  temporal  authority  of  a  neigldjor- 
ing  prelate,  the  patriarch  of  Atjuileia.     They  entered  into 

'  i'.'iriuto.  VUc  <11  Durhl  ili  Vt-nfzin,  In  stjinJinif  hor  acquisition,  in    tho  niuan- 

Siri|t    Kit.  I  till.  t.  xxli.  i>. 'J.SK.     Morcol-  time,  of  Uri-.^oia.  ltiT);aiiir),  Kiivenna,  and 

u' •  -  li:iniin;iic  in  TiTV  loiin  In  Sunuto.     I  Cn-iiia      M.  ii.  4<i2.     Tlicv  incrrii.^od  con- 

li.\.     .■iiJ<-avon'<l     to    pn-niTTo    tlie    Hub-  (liili'nil)ly  in  the  iip.xt  twriity  veiirs.     Tlio 

«tiii'...       Hut    tin-    oalrulutiohH    are    no  taxec,  liowi'Ver,  wiTi' light  in  tliu  Vciii'tiiiu 

>'r  irr.'i-  ami  nianifi-ftlr  inexact  tliat  tln-y  (loniinioiiH  ;  and  Daru  coiiiTivcrt  tlio  rrve- 

.].  -.  rw-    little    n-ifnril.      Idiru    liiui    ({ivn  nucH  of  tin?  rcpnlilic,  rcdurrd  to  a  rorn 

tii.iii    inori'    at    len^tli.   Hi"t.  de    Vt-niw,  price,    to    have    not   exi-i-eded    tho   valuo 

V-,    li     p   'JftTi.     The  rivenue*  of  Venire,  of  ll.(KJ<l,(XX)  fnincH  ut  the  pri-Hcnt  day. 

whi'  h  had  anionnt<-<l  to  !)U<i.'J!l<)dnrattiln  p.  tA'2. 
liUa,  were  but  5MZ),7oU  in  Uii>,  notwltU- 


448  CHANGE  IN  MILITARY  SYSTEM.     Chap.  III.  Part  II. 

tills  new  alliance.     No  undertaking  of  tlie  republic  had  been 

I49fi        more  successful.     Carmagnola  led  on  their  armies, 

and  in  about  two  years  Venice  acquired  Brescia 

and  Bergamo,  and  extended  her  boundary  to  the  river  Adda, 

which  she  was  destined  never  to  pass. 

Such  conquests  could  only  be  made  by  a  city  so  peculiai*- 
„,        .        ly  maritime  as  Venice  through  the  heh)  of  mer- 

Cnange  in  .*  t)  •  i       •  i 

the  military  ccuary  troops.  But,  m  employing  them,  she 
system.  merely  conformed  to  a  fashion  which    states  to 

whom  it  was  less  indispensable  had  long  since  established. 
A  great  revolution  had  taken  place  in  the  system  of  military 
service  through  most  parts  of  Europe,  but  especially  in  Italy. 
During  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries,  whether  the 
Italian  cities  were  engaged  in  their  contest  with  the  em- 
perors or  in  less  arduous  and  general  hostilities  among  each 
other,  they  seem  to  have  poured  out  almost  their  whole 
population  as  an  armed  and  loosely  organized  militia.  A 
single  city,  with  its  adjacent  district,  sometimes  brought 
twenty  or  thirty  thousand  men  into  the  tield.  Every  man, 
according  to  the  trade  he  practised,  or  quarter  of  the  city 
wherein  he  dwelt,  knew  his  own  banner  and  the  captain  he 
was  to  obey.^  In  battle  the  carroccio  formed  one  com- 
mon rallying-point,  the  pivot  of  every  movement.  This 
was  a  chariot,  or  rather  wagon,  painted  with  vermilion,  and 
bearing  the  city  standard  elevated  upon  it.  That  of  Milan 
required  four  pair  of  oxen  to  drag  it  forward.^  To  defend 
this  sacred  emblem  of  his  country,  which  Muratori  compares 
to  the  ark  of  the  covenant  among  the  Jews,  was  the  constant 
object,  that,  giving  a  sort  of  concentration  and  uniformity  to 
the  army,  supplied  in  some  degree  the  want  of  more  regular 
tactics.  This  militia  was  of  course  principally  composed 
of  infantry.  At  the  famous  battle  of  the  Arbia,  in  1260, 
the  Guelf  Florentines  had  thirty  thousand  foot  and  three 
thousand  horse ;  ^  and  the  usual  proportion  was  five,  six,  or 
ten  to  one.  Gentlemen,  however,  were  always  mounted ;  and 
the  superiority  of  a  heavy  cavalry  must  have  been  prodig- 
iously great  over  an  undisciplined  and  ill-armed  j^opulace. 

1  Muratori,  Antiq.  Ital.  Diss.  26;  Deni-  to  Rome.  Parma  and  Cremona  lost  their 
na,  Kivoluzioni  d'  Italia,  1.  .\ii.  c.  4.  oarroceios  to  each  other,  and  exchanged 

2  The  carroccio  was  invented  by  Eribort,  them  some  years  afterwards  with  great 
a  celebrated  archbishop  of  Milan,  about  exultation.  In  the  fourteenth  century 
1039.  Annali  di  Miirat. ;  .\ntiq.  Ital.  this  custom  had  gone  into  disuse.  —  Id. 
Diss.   26.      The  carroccio  of  Milan   was  ibid.     Denina,  1.  xii.  c.  4. 

taken  by  Frederic  II.  in  1237,  and  sent        ^  Villaui,  1.  Ti.  c.  79. 


Italt.  employe i:nt  of  foreign  TROOrS.  449 

In  the  thirteenth  and  followinj;  centuries  ai'mies  seem  to 
have  been  consiilered  as  fonnidalile  nearly  in  proportion  to 
tlie  number  ot"  men-at-arms  or  laneers.  A  eharj^e  of  eav- 
ahy  was  irresistible  ;  battles  were  continually  won  by  inferior 
numbers,  and  vast  slaufrhter  was  made  amonir  tlie  fiiiritives.^ 

As  the  comparative  iuL'thciency  of  foot-soldiers  became 
evident,  a  greater  proportion  of  cavalry  was  employed,  and 
armies,  though  better  equipped  and  disciplined,  were  less 
numerous.  Tliis  we  find  in  the  early  part  of  the  fourteenth 
centurv.  The  main  i)oini  for  a  state  at  war  was  „  , 
to  obtam  a  sutncient  lorce  oi  men-at-arms.  As  tew  of  foreign 
Italian  cities  could  muster  a  large  body  of  cavalry  *'^°p^- 
from  their  own  population,  the  obvious  resource  was  to  hire 
mercenary  troops.  This  had  been  i>ractised  in  some  instances 
much  earlier.  The  city  of  Genoa  took  the  count  of  Savoy 
into  pay  with  two  hundred  horse  in  122.').-  Florence  re- 
tained tive  hundred  French  lances  in  1282.*  But  it  became 
much  more  general  in  the  fourteenth  century,  chiefly  after 
the  expedition  of  the  emperor  Henry  VII.  in  1310.  IMany 
German  soldiers  of  fortune,  remaining  in  Italy  upon  this  oc- 
casion, engaged  in  the  service  of  ^lilan,  Florence,  or  some 
other  state.  The  subsequent  expeditions  of  Louis  of  Ba- 
varia in  132G,  and  of  John  king  of  Bohemia  in  1331, 
brought  a  fresh  accession  of  adventurers  from  the  same 
country.  Others  again  came  from  France,  and  some  from 
Hungary.  All  jjreferred  to  contiiuie  in  the  richest  country 
ami  line-it  climate  of  Europe,  where  their  services  were 
anxiously  solicited  and  abundantly  repaid.  An  unfortunate 
prejuiliee  in  favor  of  strangers  prevailed  among  the  Italians 
of  that  age.  They  ceded  to  them,  one  knows  not  why,  cer- 
tainly without  having  been  vancpiished,  the  palm  of  military 
skill  and  valor.  Tin,'  word  Transalpine  (Oltiamontani)  is 
frequently  applied  to  hired  cavalry  by  the  two  Villani  as  an 
ejiitlict  ot"  excellence. 

Tlie  experience  of  every  fresh  campaign  now  told  more 

I  8i«mon<li.  t.  iii.  p.  2'!3,  &c.,  ha*  Home  the  ir/K)  IiinccH  n-lio  composed  tho  oriKi- 

JuJlrioux  ol»M-rTatlnim  on  tills  subject.  mil  roiiiimiiifH  of  ordcjiiuaiu-e  niisoil   by 

J  Mumtori.  ninwrt   'it).  Cbiirli-.i  VI.  aiiiountcd  to  nliii!  thouniitij 

3  Aniiiilnito,   Int.  Fl'in-iit.  p.  159.     Tho  aivajrv.     Jtut   in  Italy  the  niinilHT  wiia 

(aiii(!  wuH  ilon<-  in   I'JKT.  p.  UK).     A  Utner,  Hinalli-r.      We  ruad  frcquontly  of  barlmll, 

in  till-  ti-<-liiiirnl  lnni;uni;<'  of  thonv  a^i!'',  wliirh    are  <l<-tlneil  lan/.i-  ile  due  cjivalli. 

iiirliKli-d  the  liKbt^T  ejivalry  altai'h(r<l  to  Corio,    p.    4.'J7.      IjinieH    of  tlireu    horxeil 

the  iiian-ut-uriiiM  nn  well  aj<  hiiMiu-lf.     In  WH^■  introilureil  about  the  middle  of  the 

Frniiee  the  full  romplement  of  a  Iniieo  fourtvunth  century.  —  Id.  p.  4()ti. 
(lanee  foumlv)  woji  Uve  ur  itix  horaeii ;  thus 
vol..   I.                                28 


450    EMPLOYjSIENT  of  FOREIGN"   TROOPS.    Chap.  III.  Paet  II. 

and  more  against  tlie  ordinaiy  militia.  It  has  been  usual  for 
modern  writers  to  lament  the  degeneracy  of  martial  spirit 
among  the  Italians  of  that  age.  But  the  contest  was  too  un- 
equal between  an  absolutely  invulnerable  body  of  cuirassiers 
and  an  infantry  of  peasants  or  citizens.  The  bravest  men 
have  little  appetite  for  receiving  wounds  and  death  without 
the  hope  of  inflicting  any  in  return.  The  parochial  militia  of 
France  had  proved  equally  unserviceable ;  though,  as  the 
life  of  a  French  peasant  was  of  much  less  account  in  the 
eyes  of  his  government  than  that  of  an  Italian  citizen,  they 
were  still  led  forward  like  sheep  to  the  slaughter  against  the 
disciplined  forces  of  Edward  III.  The  cavalry  had  about 
this  time  laid  aside  the  hauberk,  or  coat  of  mail,  their  ancient 
distinction  from  the  unprotected  populace  ;  which,  though  in- 
capable of  being  cut  through  by  the  sabre,  afforded  no  de- 
fence against  the  pointed  sword  introduced  in  the  thirteenth 
century,^  nor  repelled  the  impulse  of  a  lance  or  the  crushing 
blow  of  a  battle-axe.  Plate-armor  was  substituted  in  its 
place ;  and  the  man-at-arms,  cased  in  entire  steel,  the  several 
pieces  firmly  riveted,  and  proof  against  every  stroke,  his 
charger  protected  on  the  face,  chest,  and  shoulders,  or,  as  it 
was  called,  barded,  with  plates  of  steel,  fought  with  a  securi- 
ty of  success  against  enemies  inferior  perhaps  only  in  these 
adventitious  sources  of  courage  to  himself."^ 

Nor  was  the  new  system  of  conducting   hostilities    less 
inconvenient  to  the  citizens   than  the  tactics  of  a 

Citizens  ex-      iit  i^-it 

cused  from  battle.  Instead  of  rapid  and  predatory  invasions, 
service.  terminated  instantly  by  ^a  single  action,  and  not 

extending  more  than  a  few  days'  march  from  the  soldier's 
home,  the  more  skiFul  combinations  usual  in  the  fourteenth 
century  frequently  protracted  an  indecisive  contest  for  a 
whole  summer.^  As  wealth  and  civilization  made  evident 
the  advantages  of  agriculture  and  mercantile  industry,  this 
loss  of  productive  labor  could  no  longer  be  endured.  Azzo 
Visconti,  who  died  in  1339,  dispensed  with  the  personal  ser- 

1  Muratori,  ad  ann.  1226.  This  is  represented  in  a  statue  of  Charles 

-  Tlie  earliest  plate-armor,  engraved  in  I.  king  of  Naples,  who  died  in  1285.    P03- 

Montfaucon's  Monumens  de  la  Monarchie  sibly   the  statue  may   not   be   quite   so 

Fran(jaise,  t.  ii.,  is  of  the  reign  of  Philip  ancient.     Montfaucon,  passim.  —  Daniel, 

the  Long,  about  1315 ;  but  it  does  not  Hist,  de  la  Milice  Franijaise,  p.  395. 
appear  generally  till  that  of  Philip  of  Va-        ■^  This  tedious  warfare  d  la  Fabius  is 

lois,  or  even  later.     Before  the  complete  called  by  Villani  guerra  guereggiata,  1. 

harness  of  steel  was  adopted,  plated  caps  viii.  c.  49  ;  at  least  I  can  annex  no  other 

were  sometimes  worn  on  the  knees  and  meaning  to  the  expression, 
elbows,  and  even  greaves  on  the  legs. 


Italy.  CITIZENS  EXCUSED  FROM  SERVICE.  451 

vice  of  hi?  ^lilanese  subjects.  "  Another  of  his  laws,"  says 
Galvaneo  Fianima,  "  was,  that  the  people  should  not  go  to 
war,  hut  remain  at  home  fiir  their  own  business.  Fur  they 
had  liilln-rto  been  kept  with  nnich  danger  and  expense  every 
year,  and  especially  in  time  of  harvest  and  vintage,  when 
princes  are  wont  to  go  to  war,  in  besieging  cities,  and  incur- 
red numberless  losses,  and  chiefly  on  account  of  the  long 
time  that  they  were  so  detained.^  This  law  of  Azzo  Vis- 
conti,  taken  separately,  might  be  ascribed  to  the  usual  policy 
of  an  absolute  government.  But  we  find  a  similar  innovation 
not  long  afterwards  at  Florence.  In  the  war  carried  on  l)y 
that  republic  against  Giovanni  Visconti  in  1351,  the  younger 
Yillani  informs  us  that  "  the  useless  and  mischievous  personal 
service  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  district  was  commuted  into  a 
money  payment."  -  This  change  indeed  was  necessarily  ac- 
companied by  a  va-st  increase  of  taxation.  The  Italian  states, 
republics  as  well  as  principalities,  levied  very  heavy  contri- 
butions, ^lastino  della  Scala  had  a  revenue  of  700,000 
florins,  more,  says  John  Villani,  than  the  king  of  any  Euro- 
pean country,  except  France,  possesses.^  Yet  this  arose 
from  only  nine  cities  of  Loml>ardy.  Considered  with  refer- 
ence to  economy,  almost  any  taxes  must  be  a  cheap  commuta- 
tion tor  personal  service.  But  economy  may  be  regardeil 
too  exclusively,  and  can  never  couiUerbalance  that  degra<la- 
tion  of  a  national  character  which  proceeds  from  intrusting 
the  public  defence  to  foreigners. 

It  could  lianlly  be  expected  that  stipen<linry  troops,  chiefly 
composed  of  Germans,  would   conduct  tliem<elves  companies 
without  insolence  and  contempt  of  the  effeminacy  of  a<iven- 

...  ii-  •  TT/T-  .,1       turers. 

whicli   courted   tlieir  services.      Indinerent   to  tiie 

cau.-e  tiiey  supported,  tlie  highest  j)ay  and  the  richest  plun- 
der were  their  constant  motives.  As  Italy  was  generally  the 
theatre  of  war  in  some  of  her  numerous  states,  a  soldier  of 
f)rtune,  with  his  lance  and  charger  for  an  inheritance,  pa^-ed 
from  one  service  to  another  williout  regret  and  witliout  dis- 
credit. I')Ut  if  peace  happened  to  be  pretty  universal,  he 
might  be  ihidwn  out  of  his  oidy  occupation,  and  reduced  to 
a  very  inferior  condition,  in  a  country  of  which  he   was  not 

•  Murntori.  Antiqntt.  Itol.  DtaHort.  26.     turo  to  (nijjmont  tlie  taxca  Impniipil  while 
»Miitt.  Villiinl.  |i.  l.'il.  thi-y  hail  1 n  fn-.-.    ('oiii|iliiiiiis  nf  licnvy 

*  L.  xl.  c  i'l.  I  miinot  ImaiflriP  why  tHXHtimi  iin-  ciTtjiinly  nftiri  iiuicli'  ii|riiinRt 
PUmoii'll  «i>"orU,  t.  Iv.  p.  4;f2.  thiit  t\w  tho  Vlwonfi  iiml  othor  tyruiitd  In  the 
Innl*  of  cUiM  111  lyjinljanly  ili<l  not  wn-     fourUftith  century. 


452  COMPANIES   OF  ADVENTURERS.     Chap.  III.  Part  IL 

a  native.  It  naturally  occurred  to  men  of  their  feelings, 
that,  if  money  and  honor  could  only  be  had  while  they  re- 
tained their  arms,  it  was  their  own  fault  if  they  ever 
relinquished  them.  Upon  this  principle  they  first  acted  in 
1343,  when  the  republic  of  Pisa  disbanded  a  large  body  of 
German  cavalry  which  had  been  employed  in  a  war  with 
Florence.-^  A  partisan,  whom  the  Italians  call  the  duke 
Guarnieri,  engaged  these  dissatisfied  mercenaries  to  remain 
united  under  his  command.  His  plan  was  to  levy  contribu- 
tions on  all  countries  which  he  entered  with  his  company, 
without  aiming  at  any  conquests.  No  Italian  army,  he  well 
knew,  could  be  raised  to  oppose  him  ;  and  he  trusted  that 
other  mercenaries  would  not  be  ready  to  fight  against  men 
who  had  devised  a  scheme  so  advantageous  to  the  profession. 
This  was  the  first  of  the  companies  of  adventure  which  con- 
tinued for  many  years  to  be  the  scourge  and  disgrace  of 
Italy.  Guarnieri,  after  some  time,  withdrew  his  troops,  sati- 
ated with  plunder,  into  Germany ;  but  he  served  in  the  inva- 
sion of  Naples  by  Louis  king  of  Hungary  in  1348,  and, 
forming  a  new  company,  ravaged  the  ecclesiastical  state.  A 
still  more  formidable  band  of  disciplined  robbers  appeared 
in  1353,  under  the  command  of  Fra  Moriale,  and  after- 
wards of  Conrad  Lando.  This  was  denominated  the  Great 
Company,  and  consisted  of  several  thousand  regular  troops, 
besides  a  multitude  of  half-armed  ruffians,  who  assisted  as 
spies,  pioneers,  and  plunderers.  The  rich  cities  of  Tuscany 
and  Romagna  paid  large  sums,  that  the  great  company,  which 
was  perpetually  in  motion,  might  not  march  through  their 
territory.  Florence  alone  magnanimously  resolved  not  to 
offer  this  ignominious  tribute.  Upon  two  occasions,  once  in 
1358,  and  still  more  conspicuously  the  next  year,  she  refused 
either  to  give  a  passage  to  the  company,  or  to  redeem  herself 
by  money  ;  and  in  each  instance  the  Gei'man  robbers  were 
compelled  to  retire.  At  this  time  they  consisted  of  five 
thousand  cuirassiers,  and  their  whole  body  was  not  less  than 
twenty  thousand  men  ;  a  terrible  proof  of  the  evils  which 
an  erroneous   system  had  entailed  upon  Italy.     Nor   were 

1  Sismondi,  t.v.  p.380.  The  dangerous  some  desperate  battles  the  mercenaries 
aspect  which  these  German  mercenaries  were  defeated  and  Lodrisio  talien.  t.  v. 
might  assume  had  appeared  four  years  p.  278.  In  this  instance,  however,  they 
before,  when  Lodrisio,  one  of  the  Visconti,  acted  for  another  ;  Guarnieri  was  the  first 
.naving  quarrelled  with  the  lord  of  Milan,  who  taught  them  to  preserve  the  impar- 
led a  large  body  of  troops  who  had  just  tiality  of  general  robbers. 
been  disbanded  against  the  city.     After 


-  ."» 


Italy.  SIR  JOIIX  IIAWKWOOD.  io, 

they  repulseil  on  this  ocoasion  by  the  actual  exertions  of 
Florence.  The  courage  of  that  republic  was  in  her  councils, 
not  in  her  arms ;  the  resistance  made  to  Lando's  demand  was 
a  burst  of  national  feeling,  and  rather  against  the  advice  of 
the  leading  Florentines;^  but  the  army  emjdoyed  was  en- 
tirely composed  of  meivenary  troops,  and  prol)al>ly  for  the 
greater  part  of  foreigners. 

None  of  the  foreigu  ))artizans  who  entered  into  tho  service 
of  Italian  states  aciiuireil  such  renown  in  tliat  ca-  sir  John 
reer  as  an  Englishman  wliom  contemporary  writers  "'^"'^""ood. 
call  Aucud  or  AguUH.  but  to  whom  we  may  restore  his  na- 
tional ai)pellation  of  vSir  John  Ilawkwood.  This  very  eminent 
man  liad  served  in  the  war  of  Edward  III.,  and  obtained  his 
knighthood  from  that  sovereign,  thougii  originally,  if  we  may 
trust  common  fame,  bred  to  tlu'  trade  of  a  tailor.  After  the 
peace  of  Breligui,  France  was  ravaged  by  the  di-banded 
troops,  whose  devastations  Edward  was  accused,  perhaps  un- 
justly, of  secretly  instigating.  A  large  body  of  these,  under 
the  name  of  the  White  Company,  passed  into  the  service  of 
the  ^Iai'<piis  of  ^lontferrat.  They  were  some  time  afterwards 
employed  by  the  Pisans  against  Florence  ;  and  during  this 
latter  war  Ilawkwood  ai>pears  as  their  commander.  For 
thirty  y<'ars  he  was  continually  engaged  in  the  service  of  the 
Visconti.  of  the  pope,  or  of  the  P^lorentines,  to  whom  he  de- 
voted himself  for  the  latter  ]iart  of  his  life  with  more  fidelity 
and  »t»'adiness  than  he  had  shown  in  his  first  camjiaigns. 
The  republic  testified  her  gratitude  by  a  public  funeral,  and 
by  a  monument  in  the  Duomo,  wliicii  still  perpetuates  his 
memory. 

Till'  name  of  Sir  John  Ilawkwood  is  worthy  to  be  remem- 
bered as  that  of  the  first  distinguished  commandi-r  want  of 
who  had  aiiiK-arcd   in   Euroiie  since  tin-  destruction  '>>ii>t"ry 
of  the  Roman  empire.      It  would  be  absurd  to  sup-  bctore  ub 
pose  that  any  of  the  constituent  elements  of  mil-  *"""■ 
itary  gi-nius  which  nature  furnishes  to   energetic   characters 
were  wanting  to  the  leaders  of  a  bar!)arian  or  feutlal  army  : 
initroubled  |»erspicacity  in  confusion,  firm  decision,  rapid  exe- 
cution,  providence   against  attack,  fertility    of   resom-ce  and 
stratagem  —  thf-^e  are  in   qiialitv  as  much  required   from   the 
chief  of  an  Indian  tribe  as  fiuiu  the  accouiplishid  cnuuuaudcr. 

1  Matt.  Vllliini,  p.  5.37. 


454  WAJSTT  OF  MILITAKY  SCIENCE.      Chap.  III.  Part  II. 

But  we  do  not  find  them  in  any  instance  so  consummated  by 
habitual  skill  as  to  challenge  the  name  of  generalship.  No 
one  at  least  occurs  to  me,  previously  to  the  middle  of  the 
fourteenth  century,  to  whom  history  has  unequivocally  as- 
signed that  character.  It  is  very  rai'ely  that  we  find  even 
the  order  of  battle  specially  noticed.  The  monks,  indeed,  our 
only  chroniclers,  were  poor  judges  of  martial  excellence  ;  yet, 
as  war  is  the  main  topic  of  all  annals,  we  could  hardly  re- 
main ignorant  of  any  distinguished  skill  in  its  operations. 
This  neglect  of  military  science  certainly  did  not  proceed  from 
any  predilection  for  the  arts  of  peace.  It  arose  out  of  the  gen- 
eral manners  of  society,  and  out  of  the  nature  and  composition 
of  armies  in  the  middle  ages.  The  insubordinate  spirit  of  feu- 
dal tenants,  and  the  emulous  equality  of  chivalry,  were  alike 
hostile  to  that  gradation  of  rank,  that  punctual  observance  of 
irksome  duties,  that  prompt  obedience  to  a  supreme  command, 
through  which  a  single  soul  is  infused  into  the  active  mass, 
and  the  rays  of  individual  merit  converge  to  the  head  of  the 
general. 

In  the  fourteenth  centuiy  we  begin  to  perceive  something 
of  a  more  scientific  character  in  military  pi'oceedings,  and 
historians  for  the  first  time  discover  that  success  does  not  en- 
tirely depend  upon  intrepidity  and  physical  prowess.  The 
victory  of  Muhldorf  over  the  Austrian  princes  in  1322,  that 
decided  a  civil  war  in  the  empire,  is  ascribed  to  the  ability  of 
the  Bavarian  commander.^  Many  distinguished  officers  were 
formed  in  the  school  of  Edward  III.  Yet  their  excellences 
Avere  perhaps  rather  those  of  active  partisans  than  of  expe- 
rienced generals.  Their  successes  are  still  due  rather  to 
daring  enthusiasm  than  to  wary  and  calculating  combination. 
Like  inexpert  chess-players,  they  surprise  us  by  happy  sallies 
against  rule,  or  display  their  talents  in  rescuing  themselves 
from  the  consequence  of  their  own  mistakes.  Thus  the  ad- 
mirable arrangements  of  the  Black  Prince  at  Poitiers  hardly 
redeem  the  temerity  which  placed  him  in  a  situation  where 
the  egregious  folly  of  his  adversary  alone  could  have  per- 
mitted him  to  triumph.  Hawkwood  therefore  appears  to  me 
the  first  real  general  of  modern  times ;  the  earliest  master, 
however  imperfect,  in  the  science  of  Turenne  and  Welling- 
ton.     Every    contemporary    Italian    historian    speaks    with 

1  Struvius,   Corpus  Hist.   German,  p.     ral,  is  called  by  a  contemporary  writer 
585.    Schwepperuiau,  the  Bavarian  gene-    clarus  militari  scientia  vir. 


Italy.  SCUOOL  OF  ITALIAN  GENEILVLS.  Aoo 

aJiniiation  of  his  skilful  tactics  in  battle,  his  stratagems,  his 
well-coiuluctecl  retreats.  Praise  of  this  description,  as  I  liave 
observed,  is  hardly  bestowed,  certainly  not  so  continually,  ou 
any  former  captain. 

Ilawkwtuxl  was  not  only  the  greatest  but  the  last  of  the 
foreiirn  conduttieri,  or  caiitains  of  mercenary  bands.  „  ,     ,  , 

,,',  .','      ,  ,.    .  '  .1.         "^        1        ,  School  of 

>>  hue  lie  wivs  yet  hviiig,  a  new  mtlitmy  school  itjiiian 
had  been  funned  in  Italy,  which  not  only  super-  s^"«™'^- 
seded,  but  eclipsed,  all  the  strangers.  This  imjiortant  reform 
was  ascribed  to  Alberic  di  Barbiano,  lord  of  some  petty  ter- 
ritories near  Bologna,  lie  formed  a  company  altogether  of 
Italians  about  the  year  loT'J.  It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that 
natives  of  Italy  had  before  been  absolutely  excluded  from 
service.  "SVe  lind  several  Italians,  such  as  the  Malatesta 
family,  lords  of  Rimini,  and  the  Rossi  of  Parma,  command- 
ing the  armies  of  Florence  much  earlier.  But  this  was  the 
first  trading  company,  if  I  may  borrow  the  analogy,  the  first 
regular  body  of  Italian  mercenaries,  attached  only  to  their 
commander  without  any  consideration  of  party,  like  the  Ger- 
mans and  English  of  Laiido  and  IIa\vkwo(Kl.  Alberic  di 
Bari»iano,  though  himself  no  doulit  a  man  of  military  talents, 
is  principally  distinguished  Ity  the  school  of  great  geiienils 
which  the  company  of  St.  George  under  his  command  pro- 
duced, and  which  may  be  deduced,  by  regular  succession,  to 
the  sixteenth  century.  The  first  in  order  of  time,  and  imme- 
diate contemporaries  of  Barljiano,  were  Jacopo  del  Verine, 
Facino  Cane,  and  Ottobon  Terzo.  Among  an  intelligent  and 
educated  people,  httle  inclined  to  servile  imitation,  the  mili- 
tary art  made  great  jirogress.  The  most  eminent  coudottieri 
biiug  divided,  in  general,  between  belligerents,  each  of  them 
had  his  genius  excited  and  kept  in  tension  by  that  of  a  rival 
in  glory.  Every  resource  of  science  as  well  as  ex|)erience, 
every  improvement  in  tactical  arrangements,  and  the  use  of 
arms,  were  required  to  obtain  an  advantage  over  such  equal 
enemies.  In  the  first  year  of  the  fifteenth  century  the 
Italians  brought  their  newly  {wquired  superiority  to  a  test. 
Tlie  enqieror  Rob<.-rt,  in  alliance  willi  Florence,  invaded  (ii.in 
Galeazzo's  dominions  with  a  considerable  army.  From  old 
rei)Utation,  which  .-o  fre(|ueiilly  survives  the  iiiliiiisic  (pialilies 
n|ioii  whieh  it  wa>  Uiiiiided,  an  iuq)ressiun  ajjpeais  l(j  have 
been  excited  in  Italy  that  the  native  troops  were  still  uueciual 
to   meet   the  charge  of  (Jermati   ciiinussiers.     Tin-    duke  of 


456  DEFENSIVE  ARMS.         Chap.  III.  Part   II. 

Milan  gave  orders  to  his  general,  Jacopo  del  Verme,  to  avoid 
a  combat.  But  that  able  leader  was  aware  of  a  great  relative 
change  in  the  two  armies.  The  Germans  had  neglected  to 
improve  their  discipline  ;  their  arms  were  less  easily  wielded, 
their  horses  less  obedient  to  the  bit.  A  single  skirmish  was 
enough  to  open  their  eyes  ;  they  found  themselves  decidedly 
inferior ;  and  having  engaged  in  the  war  with  the  expectation 
of  easy  success,  were  readily  disheartened.-^  This  victory, 
or  rather  this  decisive  proof  that  victory  might  be  achieved, 
set  Italy  at  rest  for  almost  a  century  from  any  apprehensions 
on  the  side  of  her  ancient  masters. 

Whatever  evils  might  be  derived,  and  they  were  not  trifling, 
from  the  employment  of  foreign  or  native  mercenaries,  it  was 
impossible  to  discontinue  the  system  without  general  consent ; 
and  too  many  states  found  their  own  advantage  in  it  for  such 
an  agreement.  The  condottieri  were  indeed  all  notorious  for 
contempt  of  engagements.  Their  rapacity  was  equal  to  their 
bad  faith.  Besides  an  enormous  pay,  for  every  private  cui- 
rassier received  much  more  in  value  than  a  subaltern  officer 
at  present,  they  exacted  gratifications  for  every  success.^  But 
everything  was  endured  by  ambitious  governments  who  wanted 
their  aid.  Florence  and  Venice  were  the  two  states  which 
owed  most  to  the  companies  of  adventure.  The  one  loved 
war  without  its  perils ;  the  other  could  never  have  obtained 
an  inch  of  territory  with  a  poj)ulation  of  sailors.  But  they 
were  both  almost  inexhaustibly  rich  by  commercial  industry ; 
and,  as  the  surest  paymasters,  were  best  served  by  those  they 
employed.  The  Visconti  might  perhaps  have  extended  their 
conquest  over  Lombardy  with  the  militia  of  Milan  ;  but  with- 
out a  Jacopo  del  Verme  or  a  Carmagnola,  the  banner  of 
St.  Mark  would  never  have  floated  at  Verona  and  Ber- 
gamo. 

The  Italian  armies  of  the  fifteenth  century  have  been  re- 

Defensive        mfW'ked  for  One   striking   peculiarity.      War   has 

arms  of         never  been  conducted  at  so  little  personal  hazard 

age.        ^^  jj^g  soldier.     Combats  frequently  occur,  in  the 

1  Sismondi,  t.  vii.  p.  439.  Matt.  Villani,  p.  62;   Sismondi,  t.  v.  p. 

"  Paga  doppia,  e  mese  compiuto,  of  412. 
which  we  frequently  read,  sometimes  Giau  Galeazzo  Visconti  promised  con- 
granted  improvidently,  and  more  often  stant  half-pay  to  the  condottieri  whom 
demanded  unreasonahly.  The  first  speaks  he  disbanded  in  1.396.  This,  perhaps,  is 
for  itself;  the  second  was  the  reckoning  the  first  instance  of  half-pay. —  Sismondi, 
a  month's  service  as  completed  when  it  t.  vii.  p.  879. 
was  begun,  in  calculating  their  pay.  — 


Italy. 


DEFENSIVE  AILMS. 


4:.  7 


annals  of  that  age,  wherein  success,  though  warmly  contested, 
co-;ts  vei'v  few  lives  even  to  the  vanquished.^  This  innocence 
of  hlooil,  which  some  historians  turn  into  ridicule,  was  no 
doubt  owing  in  a  great  degree  to  the  rapacity  of  the  compa- 
nies of  adventure,  who,  in  expei-tation  of  enriching  them- 
selves by  the  ransom  of  prisoners,  were  anxious  to  save 
their  lives.  Much  of  the  humanity  of  modern  warfare  was 
originally  due  to  this  motive.  But  it  was  rendered  more 
practicable  by  the  nature  of  their  arms.  For  once,  and  for 
once  only  in  the  history  of  mankind,  the  art  of  defence  had 
out-tripped  that  of  destruction.  In  a  charge  of  lancers  many 
fell,  unhorsed  by  the  shock,  and  might  be  suffocated  or  bruised 
to  death  by  the  pressure  of  their  own  armor;  but  the  lance's 
point  could  not  penetrate  the  breastplate,  the  sword  fell 
harmless  upon  the  helmet,  the  concjueror.  in  the  first  impulse 
of  passion,  could  not  assail  any  vital  part  of  a  })rostrate  but 
not  exposed  enemy.  Still  less  was  to  be  dreaded  from  the 
archers  or  cross-bowmen,  who  composed  a  large  part  of  the 
infantry.  The  bow  indeeil.  as  drawn  by  an  English  foot- 
soldier,  was  the  most  formidable  of  arms  before  the  invention 
of  gimpowder.  That  ancient  weapon,  though  not  perhaps 
connnon  among  the  Northern  nations,  nor  for  several  centu- 
ries after  their  settlement,  was  occasionally  in  use  before  the 
crusades.  William  employed  archers  in  the  battle  of  Hast- 
ings.- Intercourse  with  the  East,  its  natural  soil  during  the 
twidfth  ami  thirteenth  ages,  rendered  the  bow  better  known. 
But  the  Ein-opeans  improved  on  the  eastern  method  of  cou- 


1  Iiiitinrfs  of  tliis  arp  very  frrquont. 
Tim-  lit  till'  action  of  Zii>;on:ini,  in  142.'i, 
but  tlirw  iMTsoiiK,  acciiriliiii;  to  Marliia- 
Tfl.  lO'it  tliuir  livon,  anci  tlu-st-  by  sulTix-a- 
tion  in  the  mucl,  Itit.  Kiorunt.  I.  iv.  At 
that  of  Moliiii-lln.  in  14<i7,  ho  savK  tliat 
no  on<'  was  killeil.  1.  vij.  Auiniinito  rc- 
I)n)Vi-*  him  for  thii,  iw  all  the  authorK  of 
the  time  n-prcwiit  it  to  have  been  saii);iii- 
narv  (t.  ii.  p.  llil!),  aii<l  in'iiiiiateH  that 
Miiliiavel  ri'liruli-s  the  inoffeii-iveness  of 

til aniiiuii    more    than    they    cje.ierve, 

^^■le•rI|en<lo,  ronio  (rtfli  miol  Cir.  cjnella 
inilu.ia.  Certainly  mime  few  battleH  of 
till-  tifloonth  rentury  wen?  not  only  ob- 
ctitiately  rnnU-tU-'l.  but  attemleil  with 
r..i,.i.|.ribl4-  l.i-rt.  Si«monili.  t.  x.  p.  12*i. 
TiT.  r.iit.  ill  (."•m-ral.  tliir  iilauKht«r  niuxt 
'  ir  »ery  tritlinif.  Amminito  lilm»elf 
Miat  In  nn  artlon  betui'<-ii  the  Nea- 
iri  nn<l  pajwl  troopa  in  UW,  whicli 


UutlcU  all  liny,  not  only  no  odo  woo  killeU, 


but  it  is  not  reoordcil  that  any  one  was 
woumlej.  Uosco<!"s  Lorenzo  de'  Medici, 
vol.  ii.  J).  .37.  (iuirciiirdini".'<  (^neral  tes- 
timony to  the  chantoter  of  the.<e  combats 
in  uiieiiuiv(K-al.  He  speak.s  of  the  battle 
of  Kornova,  between  the  confederates  of 
Lonibardy  and  the  army  of  Churles  VIII. 
returriinji  from  Naples  in  1495,  a.s  very 
remarkable  on  account  of  t\w  sjaujrhter, 
which  amounted  on  the  Italian  side  to 
3.<HH)  men  :  pen-lii'r  f.'i  la  prima,  die  da 
luuKhlssimo  tempo  in  quX  .si  coinbattcsso 
con  uccisioue  o  con  san^ue  in  Italia, 
perche  innauzi  Ii  questa  morivano  pcx'hi.s- 
ximi  uomini  in  un  futto  d'armo.  1.  ii.  p. 
175. 

^  I'edite.s  in  fronte  locavit.  im|.fittis  nr- 
inatos  et  balistis,  item  pedite.s  in  ordino 
Heoundo  (irniiores  et  loricalos.  ultimo  tur- 
mas  e(|uitum.  (lul.  I'ictJivien-is  (in  Dn 
("hesne),  p.  '20l.  Several  archern  aru  rep- 
ruxentuU  in  thu  tapextry  of  llayeux. 


458  DEFENSIVE  ARMS.         Chap.  III.  Pakt  II. 

fining  its  use  to  cavalry.  By  employing  infantiy  as  archers, 
they  gained  increased  size,  more  steady  position,  and  surer 
aim  for  the  bow.  Much,  however,  depended  on  the  strength 
and  skill  of  the  archer.  It  was  a  peculiarly  English  weapon, 
and  none  of  the  other  principal  nations  adopted  it  so  gener- 
ally or  so  successfully.  The  cross-bow,  which  brought  the 
strong  and  weak  to  a  level,  was  more  in  favor  upon  tlae  con- 
tinent. This  instrument  is  said  by  some  writers  to  have  been 
introduced  after  the  first  crusade  in  the  reign  of  Louis  the 
Fat.^  But,  if  we  may  trust  William  of  Poitou,  it  was  em- 
ployed, as  well  as  the  long-bow,  at  the  battle  of  Hastings. 
Several  of  the  popes  prohibited  it  as  a  treacherous  weapon  ; 
and  the  restriction  was  so  far  regarded,  that,  in  the  time  of 
Philip  Augustus,  its  use  is  said  to  have  been  unknown  in 
France.^  By  degrees  it  became  more  general;  and  cross- 
bowmen  were  considered  as  a  very  necessary  part  of  a  well- 
organized  army.  But  both  the  arrow  and  the  quarrel  glanced 
away  from  plate-armor,  such  as  it  became  in  the  fifteenth 
century,  impervious  in  every  point,  except  when  the  vizor 
was  raised  from  the  face,  or  some  part  of  the  body  acciden- 
tally exposed.  The  horse  indeed  was  less  completely  pro- 
tected. 

Many  disadvantages  attended  the  security  against  wounds 
for  which  this  armor  had  been  devised.  The  enormous 
weight  exhausted  the  force  and  crippled  the  limbs.  It  ren- 
dered the  heat  of  a  southern  climate  insupportable.  In  some 
circumstances  it  increased  the  danger  of  death,  as  in  the 
passage  of  a  river  or  morass.  It  was  impossible  to  compel 
an  enemy  to  fight,  because  the  least  entrenchment  or  natural 
obstacle  could  stop  such  unwieldy  assailants.  The  troops 
might  be  kept  in  constant  alarm  at  night,  and  either  com- 
pelled to  sleep  under  arms,  or  run  the  risk  of  being  surprised 
before  they  could  rivet  their  plates  of  steel.^  Neither  the 
Italians,  however,  nor  the  Transalpines,  would  surrender  a 
mode  of  defence  which  they  ought  to  have  deemed  inglorious. 
But  in  order  to  obviate  some  of  its  military  inconveniences, 
as  well  as  to  give  a  concentration  in  attack,  which  lancers 
impetuously  charging  in  a  single  line,  according  to  the  prac- 
tice at  least  of  France  in  the  middle  ages,  did  not  preserve, 

1  Le  Grand,  Vie   privee   des  Fran^ais,  t.  i.  p.  349. 

2  Du  Cansp,  v.  Balista ;  Muratori  Diss.  26,  t.  i.  p.  462  (Ital.). 

3  Sisinondi,  t.  ix.  p.  158. 


Italy.  INVENTION   OF  GUNPOWDER.  4j0 

it  became  usual  for  the  cavalry  to  dismount,  and,  ^    .       <■ 

...  •  '  (.  ustoni  of 

leaving  their  horses  at  some  distance,  to  combat  cavnir.v  ais- 
on  foot  with  the  laiice.  This  practice,  which  must  """""""s- 
have  been  singularly  embarras^ing  with  the  plate-armor  of 
the  fifteenth  century,  wa>  introduced  before  it  became  so  pon- 
derous. It  is  mentioned  by  iiistorians  of  the  twelftii  ceiiliay, 
both  as  a  German  and  an  EngH.-;h  custom.^  We  find  it  in 
tiie  wars  of  Edward  III.  llawkwood,  the  disci])le  of  that 
school,  introduced  it  into  Italy.-  ^Vnd  it  wa;?  practised  by  the 
Engli^h  in  their  second  wars  with  France,  especially  at  the 
battles  of  Crevant  and  Verneuil.^ 

Meanwhile  a  discovery  accidentally  made,  i)erha[)s  in  some 
remote  age  and  distant  region,  and  whose  impor-  invention  of 
t;ince  was  but  slowly  perceived  by  Europe,  had  funp^wier. 
prepared  the  way  not  only  for  a  change  in  her  military  system, 
but  for  political  effects  still  more  extensive.  If  we  con.-ider 
gunpowder  as  an  instrument  of  human  destruction,  incalcula- 
bly more  powerful  than  any  that  skill  had  devised  or  accident 
presented  before,  acipiiring,  iUj  experience  shows  us,  a  more 
sanguinary  dominion  in  every  succeeding  ajje,  and  borrowinjr 
all  the  progressive  resources  ot  science  and  civilizatian  for 
the  extermination  of  mankind,  we  shall  be  apjjalled  at  the  fu- 
ture prospects  of  the  species,  and  feel  perliaps  in  no  other 
instance  so  much  difficulty  in  reconciling  the  mysterious  dis- 
pensation with  the  benevolent  order  of  Providence.  As  the 
great  si-curity  for  e-tabli>hed  governments,  the  surest  preser- 
vation against  popular  tumult,  it  assumes  a  more  etpiivocal 
charactt.-r,  dei)ending  upon  the  solution  of  a  doubtful  problem, 
whether  the  sum  of  general  ha|)piness  hits  lost  more  in  the 
last  three  centuries  through  arljitrary  power,  than  it  has 
gained  through  regular  police  and  suppression  of  disorder. 

There  seems  little  rea.-;on  to  doubt  that  gunjiowder  was  in- 
troduced through  the  means  of  the  Saracens  into  Euroi)e. 
Ils  use  in  engines  of  war,  though  they  may  seem  to  have 
been  rather  like  our  fireworks  than  artillery,  is  mentioned  by 

1  The  ••mperor  Connul'n  ravnlry  in  the  Stan.liinl.    in     1138.      TwysJen,    De<ini 

r4^"w\   •Tiiau'lu  nrv  wil.l  Ijy   Wiliiiiiii    of  Script.  ]>.  ^2. 
'                  vi- .li-iiii>uiit4-.i  ononein'cttnion,        s  SIsiuondl,   t.  vi.   p.  429;  .\zjiriu»,  in 

on  f'x.t.  (lc'e<|ui«  .l.'«-e-ii<l<Mit.'H,  Script.  IUt    lUl.  t.  xvi.  ;  .Matt.  Villiinl. 
.  '   .  1.    1  |,.-.lil<-ji ;  iiriil  miis  ru    T'Ut(iiiiri.\         3  .Monstri-lct,  t.  ii.  fol.  7,   14.   "li  ;   Villii- 

in  Miinniiit  iu-<'<-i.iiitnti)>ui(  iM-IJIrii  tnictHre  n-t,  t.  wii.  p.  8'.t.     It  vi:i*  ii  Itiiik'nnaian 

ii.-k".tin.     1.    xvll.    c.    4.     Aii'l   till-   Kiinio  iih   wi-ll   ii«   Knulixli    fiinliiiin.     Kntro   los 

uiin   I'liii-  >iy  th<- Kri;,'lii<h  ill  tlic-ir  enictia--  IJonrnniuniinH,    wivh    ('oniini-H,    lorn    i-h- 

Mi.-iit  »itli  thi-  Sc-<,t/(i  Mi!nr  .\orth-.\lliT-  toicnt    Ick   plui4   lioiiorcz   n-nx   (jue   do8- 

ton,  colli luonljr  call««l  the  buttle  of  tin-  ctniiluiuot  utim;  Ic8  archerx.     1.  1.  c.  3. 


460  INVENTION  OF  GUNPOWDER.      Chap.  III.  Part  II. 

an  Arabic  writer  in  the  Escurial  collection  about  the  year 
1249.^  It  was  known  not  long  afterwards  to  our  philosopher 
Roger  Bacon,  though  he  concealed,  in  some  degree,  the  secret 
of  its  composition.  In  the  first  part  of  the  fourteenth  century 
cannon,  or  rather  mortars,  were  invented,  and  the  applicabil- 
ity of  gunpowder  to  purposes  of  war  was  understood.  Ed- 
ward III.  employed  some  pieces  of  artillery  with  considerable 
effect  at  Crecy.^  But  its  use  was  still  not  very  frequent ;  — 
a  circumstance  which  will  surprise  us  less  when  we  consider 
the  unscientific  construction  of  artillery  ;  the  slowness  with 
which  it  could  be  loaded ;  its  stone  balls,  of  uncertain  aim 
and  imperfect  force,  being  commonly  fired  at  a  considerable 
elevation ;  and  especially  the  difficulty  of  removing  it  from 
place  to  place  during  an  action.  In  sieges,  and  in  naval  en- 
gagements, as,  for  example,  in  the  war  of  Chioggia,  it  was 
more  frequently  employed.^  Gradually,  however,  the  new 
artifice  of  evil  gained  ground.  The  French  made  the  princi- 
pal improvements.  They  cast  their  cannon  smaller,  placed 
them  on  lighter  carriages,  and  used  balls  of  iron.*  They  in- 
vented portable  arms  for  a  single  soldier,  which,  though  clumsy 
in  comparison  with  their  px-esent  s.tate,  gave  an  augury  of  a 
prodigious  revolution  in  the  miUtary  art.  John  Duke  of    Bur- 

1  Casiri,  Bibl.  Arab.  Ilispan.  t.  ii.  p.  7,  456,  where  he  speaks  of  the  art,  nuper 

thus  renders  the  original  description  of  rara,  nunc  communis, 

certain  missiles  used  by  tlie  Moors.     Ser-  -  G.  Villani,  1.  xii.  c.  67.   f  Gibbon  has 

punt,  susurrantque  scorpiones  circumli-  thrown  out  a  sort  of  objection  to  the  cer- 

gati  ac    pulvere   nitrato    incensi,   unde  tainty  of  this  fact,  on  account  of  Frois- 

explosi  fulgurant  ac    incendunt.      Jam  sarfs  silence.  But  the  positive  testimony 

videre  erat  manganum  excussum  veluti  of  Villani,   who   died  within   two  years 

nubem  per  aera extendi  ac  tonitrus  instar  afterwards,  and  had  manifestly  obtained 

horrendum    edere    fragorem.    ignemque  much  information  as  to  the  great  erents 

undequAque  vomens,  omnia   dirumpere,  passing  in   France,  cannot  be   rejected, 

incendere,  in  cineres  i-edigere.     The  Ara-  He  ascribes  a  material  effect  to  the  cannon 

bic  passage  is  at  the  bottom  of  the  page  ;  of  Edward,  colpi  delle  bombarde,  which  I 

and  one  would  be  glad  to  know  whether  suspect,  from  his  strong  expressions,  had 

pulvis  nitratus  is  a  fair  translation.     But  not  been  employed  before,  except  against 

I   think  there  can  on  the  whole  be  no  stonewalls.    It  seemed,  he  saj-s,  as  if  God 

doubt   that  gunpowder  is  meant.     An-  thundered  con  grande  uccisione  di  genti, 

other  Arabian  writer  seems  to  describe  e  sfondamento  di  cavalli. 

the  use  of  cannon  in  the  years  1312  and  3  Gattaro,  1st.  Padovana,  in  Script.  Her. 

1323.     Id.  ibid.     And   the  chronicle   of  Ital.  t.  xvii.  p.  360.     Several  proofs  of  the 

Alphonso  XI.,  king  of  Castile,  distinctly  employment  of  artillery  in  French  sieges 

mentions  them  at  the  siege  of  Algeciras  during  the  reign  of  Charles  V.  occur  in 

in  13-12.     But  before  this  they  were  suf-  Villaret.     See  the  word  Artillerie  in  the 

ficiently  known  in  France.     Gunpowder  index. 

and  cannon  are  both  mentioned  in  regis-  Gian  Galeazzo  had,  according  to  Corio, 
ters  of  accounts  under  1338  (Du  Cange,  v.  thirty-four  pieces  of  cannon,  small  and 
Bombarda).  and  in  another  document  of  great,  in  the  Milanese  army,  about  1397. 
1345.  llist.  du  Languedoc,  t.  iv.  p.  204.  *  Guicciardini,  1.  i.  p.  75,  has  a  remark- 
But  the  strongest  eviilence  is  a  passage  of  able  passage  on  the  superiority  of  the 
Petrarch,  written  before  1-344.  and  quoted  French  over  the  Italian  artillery  in  con- 
in  Muratori,  Antich.  Ital.  Dissert.  26,  p.  sequence  of  these  improvements. 


Italy.  SFOKZA  AND  BliACCIO.  4G1 

gundy,  in  1-ill,  had  4000  hand-cannon^  as  they  were  called, 
in  his  arniy.^  They  are  found,  under  ditierent  names  and  niud- 
itieations  of  form  —  for  wliieli  1  refer  the  reader  to  professed 
writers  on  tiu-tics  —  in  most  of  the  wars  that  historians  of  the 
liftecnlli  eeiitury  record,  but  less  in  Italy  than  beyond  the  Alps. 
The  Milanese,  in  ll-l',>,  are  said  to  have  armed  tiieir  militia 
with  20.000  muskets,  which  struck  terror  into  the  old  generals.- 
But  tiiese  muskets,  supported  on  a  rest,  and  charged  with  great 
delay,  did  less  execution  than  our  sanguinary  science  would 
re(iuire  ;  and,  imcombined  with  the  admirable  invention  of  the 
bayonet,  could  not  in  any  degree  resist  a  charge  of  cavalry. 
The  pike  had  a  greater  tendency  to  subvert  the  military  sys- 
tem uf  the  iniildle  ages,  and  to  demonstrate  the  elliciency  of  dis- 
ciplined infantry.  Two  free  nations  had  already  discomfited, 
by  the  help  of  such  infantry,  tlnjse  arrogant  knights  on  whom 
the  fate  of  battles  had  dei)ended  —  the  Jiohemians,  instructed 
in  the  art  of  war  by  their  great  master,  John  Zisca ;  and  the 
Swiss,  who,  after  winning  their  independence  inch  by  inch 
from  the  house  of  Austria,  had  lately  established  their 
renown  by  a  splendid  victory  over  Charles  of  Burgundy. 
Louis  XI.  took  a  body  of  'mercenaries  from  the  United  Can- 
tons into  pay.  ^laximilian  had  recourse  to  the  same  assist- 
ance.^ And  though  the  im[)ortance  of  infantry  was  not 
jierhaps  decidedly  established  till  the  Milanese  wars  of  Louis 
XII.  and  Francis  I.,  in  the  sixteenth  century,  yet  the  last 
years  of  the  middle  ages,  according  to  our  division,  indicated 
the  commencement  of  that  military  revolution  in  the  general 
employment  of  pikemen  and  musketeers. 

Soon  after  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century,  to  return 
from   this   digression,  two  illustrious  captains,  edu-  ^jvnirv  of 
cated   under   Alberic   di    Barbiano,   turned   upon  storai  ;iii,i 
themselves  the  cye:^  of  Ituly.     These  were  Braccio 
di   Montone,  a  noble   Perugian,  and    Sibrza  Attendolo,  origi- 
nallv  a  peasant  in  the  viUage  of  Cotigruiola.     Nearly  e(iual 
in    reputJition,  uidess   perhaps  Braccio  may  be  reckoned   the 
more    consummate   general,  they    were   divided    by   a   l(jng 

>  VllUrct,  t.  xiil.  p.  Vn,  310.  '  Sc-o   Ouiociardinis   clinnirtcr   of  the 

^.''Ijtmoiiili,  t.  ix.  p.  .'i41.     1I<>  Hay g  that  Swiss   troopM,   p.    11/2.     The    Kri'iich,   ho 

It  ruqulnil  n  (iiiarttTiif  iiii  hour  t<)  rhari;o  sa.vii,  huil  no  iiiitivi-  iiifimtrv  ;  il  rcf{iio  ill 

nii>l  tlrva  iiiimktft      I  iiiiiitt  coiifeKM  that  I  Kniiiciii  oni  ilcboli.s.iiiiio  Ji   fiiiitcriii  pro- 

viTV   much   ilouht  thi^  fact  of  no  many  pria,  thu   iioliility  iiionopoli/.iijg  ull  war- 

mu>'ki't'<  harttiK  hcvn  roll(.irt«<l.     In  1472  like  occupatioiiu.     Ibid, 
that  arm  vrim  im-i-ii    for   thi-  flr»t  time  in 
Tiucany.     MurutJjri,  Dliuort.  W,  p.  457. 


462  FRANCESCO  SFORZA.   Chap.  III.  Part  II. 

rivalry,  Avhicli  descended  to  the  next  generation,  and  involved 
all  the  distinguished  leaders  of  Italy.  The  distractions  of 
Naples,  and  the  anarchy  of  the  ecclesiastical  state,  gave  scope 
not  only  to  their  military  but  political  ambition.  Sforza  was 
invested  with  extensive  fiefs  in  the  kingdom  of  Naples,  and 
with  the  office  of  Great  Constable.  Braccio  aimed  at  inde- 
pendent acquisitions,  and  formed  a  sort  of  principality  around 
Perugia.  This,  however,  was  entirely  dissipated  at  his 
death.  When  Sforza  and  Braccio  were  no  more,  their  re- 
Francesco  spective  parties  were  headed  by  the  son  of  the 
Sforza.  former,  Francesco  Sforza,  and  by  Nicholas  Picci- 

nino,  who  for  more  than  twenty  years  fought,  with  few  ex- 
ceptions, under  opposite  banners.  Piccinino  was  constantly 
in  the  service  of  Milan.  Sforza,  whose  political  talents  fully 
equalled  his  military  skill,  never  lost  sight  of  the  splendid 
prospects  that  ojDened  to  his  ambition.  From  Eugenius  IV. 
he  obtained  the  March  of  Ancona,  as  a  fief  of  the  Roman 
see.  Thus  rendered  more  independent  than  the  ordinary 
condottieri,  he  mingled  as  a  sovereign  prince  in  the  politics 
of  Italy.  He  was  generally  in  alliance  with  Venice  and 
Florence,  throwing  his  weight  into'  their  scale  to  preserve  the 
balance  of  power  against  Milan  and  Naples.  But  his  ulti- 
mate designs  rested  upon  Milan.  Filippo  Maria,  duke  of 
that  city,  the  last  of  his  family,  had  only  a  natural  daughter, 
whose  hand  he  sometimes  offered  and  sometimes  withheld 
from  Sforza.  Even  after  he  had  consented  to  their  union. 
He  acuuires  ^^^  suspicious  temper  was  incapable  of  admitting 
the  duchy  such  a  sou-in-law  into  confidence,  and  he  joined  in 
Milan.  ^  confederacy  with  the  j^ope  and  king  of  Naples  to 
strip  Sforza  of  the  March.  At  the  death  of  Filippo  Maria 
in  1 447,  that  general  had  nothing  left  but  his  glory,  and  a 
very  disputable  claim  to  the  Milanese  succession.  This,  how- 
ever, was  set  aside  by  the  citizens,  who  revived  their  republi- 
can government.  A  republic  in  that  part  of  Lombardy 
might,  with  the  help  of  Venice  and  Florence,  have  withstood 
any  domestic  or  foreign  usurpation.  But  Venice  w^as  hostile, 
and  Florence  indifferent.  Sforza  became  the  general  of  this 
new  state,  aware  that  such  would  be  the  probable  means  of 
becoming  its  master.  No  politician  of  that  age  scrupled  any 
breach  of  faith  for  his  interest.  Nothing,  says  Machiavel, 
VFas  thought  shameful,  but  to  fail.  Sforza,  with  his  army, 
deserted  to  the  Venetians  ;  and  the  republic  of  Milan,  being 


Italy.  KEBELLIOX  OF  SICILY.  463 

both  incapable  of  flefonding  itself  and  tlistraoteil  by  civil  dis- 
sensions, soon  fell  a  prey  to  his  ambition.  In  14.*><»  lie  was 
proclaimed  duke,  rather  by  light  of  election,  or  of  conquest, 
than  in  virtue  of  his  raarriaire  with  Bianca.  whose  sex,  as 
well  as  illegitimacy,  seemed  to  preclude  her  from  inheriting. 

I  have  not  alluded  for  some  time  to  the  domestic  history 
of  a  kingdom  which  bore  a  considerable  part,  dur-  Affairs  of 
ing   the   fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries,  in   tlie  ^""P'<;s- 
general  comljinalions  of  Italian  policy,  not  wishing  to  inter- 
rupt the  reader's  attention  by  too  frequent  transitions.     We 
must  return  again  to  a  more  remote  age  in  order  to  take  up 
the   history   of  Naples.      Charles   of  Anion,  after 
the  deaths  of  Manti-ed  and  Conradin  had  left  him  ' '  ' 
without  a  competitor,  might  be  ranked  in   the  first  class  of 
European  sovereigns,     blaster  of  Provence  and  Naples,  and 
at   the   head  of  the  Guelf  faction   in   Italy,  he  had  already 
prepared  a  formidable  attack  on  the  Greek  empire,  when  a 
menioral)le  revolution  in   Sicily  brought   humiliation  on  his 
latter  years.     John  of  Procida,  a  Neapolitan,  whose   patri- 
mony had   been   confiscated  for  his  adlaerence  to  Rebellion 
the  partv  of  Manfred.  retaine<l.  duriuLr  lonji  years  '^S  ^''"y 
or    exile,    an    implacahle    resentment    against   tlie  chmies 
house  of  Anjou.     From  the  dominions  of  Peter  ""^  -^"J<"»- 
III.,  king  of  Aragon,  who  had  bestowed  estates  upon  him  in 
Valencia,  he  kept  his  eye  continually  fixed  on  Naples  and 
Sicily.     The    fijrmer  held  out   no  f;ivoral)le   prospects  ;    the 
Ghibelin  party  had  been  entirely  subdued,  and  the  principal 
barons  were  of  French  extraction  or  inclinations.      But   the 
i-land  was  in  a  very  different  state.      I'liuscd   to   any  strong 
government,  it  was  now  treated  as  a  contjuered  country.     A 
large  body  of  French  soldiers  garrisoned  the  forfilied  towns, 
and   the   sy>teniatic  oppression  was  aggravated   by  those  in- 
sults  ujjon   the   honor  of  families  which  are  most  intolerable 
to  an  Italian  temperament,     .hjhn  of  Procida,  travelling  in 
di-giiisc  through   the    island,    aiiiinatcd    the    barons    with    a 
hope   of  deliverance.     In  like   disguise  he   repaired   to  the 
jMjpe,  Nicolas  III.,  who  was  jealous  of  the   new  Neapolitan 
dynasty,  and  obtaiin-d   his  sanction  to  the   projected  insurrec- 
tion ;  to   the  court  of  Constantinople,  from   whicii   he  ntidily 
obtained   money;  and  to  the  king  of  Aragon,  who  eni|)loyed 
that  money  in    fitting  out  an   armament,  that    hovered  upon 
the   coast  <jf  Africa,  under  pretext  of  attacking   the  Moors. 


464  SICILIAN  VESPERS.        Chap.  III.  Part  II. 

It  is,  however,  difficult  at  this  time  to  distinguish  tlie  effects 
of  preconcerted  conspiracy  fi'oui  those  of  casual  resentment. 
Before  the  intrigues  so  skilfully  conducted  had  taken  efltect, 
yet  after  they  were  ripe  for  development,  an  outrage  commit- 
ted upon  a  lady  at  Palermo,  during  a  procession  on  the  vigil 
of  Easter,  provoked  the  people  to  that  terrible  massacre  of 
Sicilian  J^H  the  French  in  their  island  which  has  obtained 

Vespers.  tlie  name  of  Sicilian  Vespers.  Unpremeditated 
as  such  an  ebullition  of  popular  fury  must  appear,  it  fell  in, 
-looo  by  the  happiest  coincidence,  with  the  previous  con- 
s^ju'acy.  ihe  knig  ot  Aragons  lleet  was  at  hand; 
the  Sicihans  soon  called  in  his  assistance  ;  he  sailed  to  Paler- 
mo, and  accepted  the  crown.  John  of  Procida  is  a  remarka- 
ble witness  to  a  truth  which  the  pride  of  governments  will 
seldom  permit  them  to  acknowledge  :  that  an  individual,  ob- 
scure and  apparently  insignificant,  may  sometimes,  by  perse- 
verance and  energy,  shake  the  foundations  of  established 
states ;  while  the  perfect  concealment  of  his  intrigues  proves 
also,  against  a  popular  maxim,  that  a  political  secret  may  be 
preserved  by  a  number  of  persons  during  a  considerable 
length  of  time.-^ 

The  long  war  that  ensued  upon  this  revolution  involved  or 
War  in  interested  the  greater  part  of  civihzed  Europe, 

consequence  phiHp  HI,  of  France  adhered  to  his  uncle,  and  the 
France  and  king  of  Aragou  was  Compelled  to  fight  for  Sicily 
Aragon.  within  his  native  dominions.  This  indeed  was  the 
more  vulnerable  point  of  attack.  Upon  the  sea  he  was  lord 
of  the  ascendant.  His  Catalans,  the  most  intrepid  of  Med- 
iterranean sailors,  were  led  to  victory  by  a  Calabrian  refu- 
gee, Roger  di  Loria,  the  most  illustrious  and  successful 
admiral  whom  Europe  produced  till  the  age  of  Blake  and  de 
Ruyter.  In  one  of  Loria's  battles  the  eldest  son  of  the  king 
of  Naples  was  made  prisoner,  and  the  first  years  of  his  own 

1  Giannone,   though   he  has   well   de-  Palermo.      The    thought    of   calUng    in 

scribed  the  schemes  of  ,Tohn  of  Procida,  Peter,  he  asserts,  did  not  occur  to  the 

yet,  as  is  too  often  his  custom,  or  rather  Sicilians  till  Charles  had  actually  com- 

that  of  Costanzo,  whom  he  implicitly  fol-  menced  the  siege  of  Messina.     But  this 

lows,  drops  or  slides  over  leading  facts ;  is    ecjually    removed    from     the     truth. 

and  thus,  omitting  entirely,  or  misrepre-  Gibbon  has  made  more  errors  than  are 

sentiug,  the  circumstances  of  the  Sicilian  usual  with  so  accurate  an  historian  in 

Vespers,  treats  the  whole  insurrection  as  his  account  of  this  revolution,  such  as 

the    result   of  a  deliberate    conspiracy,  calling  Constance,   the  queen  of  Peter, 

On  the  other  hand,  Nicolas  Specialis.  a  sister    instead   of  rlaugJiter  of  Manfred, 

contemporary  writer,  in  the  seventh  vol-  A  good  narrative  of  the  Sicilian  Vespers 

ume  of  Muratori's  collection,  represents  may    be    found    in    VeUy's    History    of 

the  Sicilian  Vespers  as  proceeding  entirely  France,  t.  vi. 
from  the  casual  outrage  in  the  streets  of 


Italy.  WAR  BETWEEN  FR.VXCE  AXD  ARAGOX.  A(]o 

reign  were  spent  in  continenient.  But  notwith>tan(ling  tho*e 
advantages,  it  was  tbmul  iinprai'ticalile  tor  Aragon  to  contend 
against  the  arms  of"  France,  and  latterly  of  Castile,  sustained 
by  the  rolling  thunders  of  the  Vatican.  Peter  III.  had  be- 
queathed Sicily  to  his  second  son  James  ;  Alfonso,  the  •■ld(\-;t, 
king  of  Ai-agon,  could  not  fairly  bo  expected  to  ruin  his  in- 
heritance for  his  brother's  cause  ;  nor  were  the  barons  of  that 
Iree  country  disposed  to  carry  on  a  war  without  national  ob- 
jects. He  made  peace,  accordingly,  in  1295,  and  engaged 
to  withdraw  all  his  sulijects  from  the  Sicilian  service.  Upon 
his  own  di'ath,  which  followed  very  soon,  James  succeeded  to 
the  kingiloni  of  Aragon,  and  ratified  the  renunciation  of  Sic- 
ily. But  the  natives  of  that  island  had  received  too  deeply 
the  spirit  of  independence  to  be  thus  assigned  over  by  the 
letter  of  a  treaty.  After  solemnly  abjuring,  by  their  ambas- 
sadors, their  allegiance  to  the  king  of  Aragon,  they  placed  the 
crown  upon  the  head  of  his  brother  Frederic.  They  main- 
tained the  war  against  Charles  II.  of  Naples,  against  James 
of  Aragon,  their  former  king,  who  had  bound  himself  to  en- 
force their  submission,  and  even  against  the  great  Roger  di 
Loria,  who,  upon  some  discontent  with  Frederic,  deserted 
their  banner,  and  entered  into  (he  Neapolitan  service.  Peace 
was  at  length  made  in  1300,  upon  condition  that  Frederic 
should  retain  diwing  his  life  the  kingdom,  which  was  after- 
wards to  revert  to  the  crown  of  Naples :  a  condition  not 
likely  to  be  fulfilled. 

Upon  the  death  of  Charles  II.  king  of  Naples,  in  1305,  a 
question  arose  as  to  the  succession.  I  lis  eldest  son,  Charles 
Martel,  had  been  called  by  maternal  inheritance  to  the  throne 
of  Hungary,  and  had  left  at  iiis  decease  a  son,  Carobert,  the 
reigning  sovereign  of  that  country.  According  to  the  laws 
of  representative  succession,  which  were  at  this  time  tolerably 
settled  in  |)rivate  inheritance,  the  crown  of  Naples  ought  to 
have  regularly  devolved  u]ion  that  i)rince.  But  it  iiobertking 
wa<  contoted'bv  his  uncle  Robert,  the  eldest  livin<r  °^  ^'"l'''"' 
son  of  Charles  II.,  and  the  cause  was  pleaded  by  civilians  at 
Avignon  before  Pope  Clement  V.,  the  feudal  superior  of  the 
Neapolitan  kingdom.  Reasons  of  pultlic  \itility.  rathr-r  than 
of  legal  analogy,  seem  to  have  prevaih-d  in  the  decision 
wliich  wjis  made  in  favor  of  Robert.*     The  course  of  his 

>  aiannonc,  I.  xxll. ;  Humtnontc,  t.  ii.  p.  370.     Sonic  of  tbc  rivillaDS  of  tluit  Bge, 
boweriT.  o(i|ir<iv<-<l  the  dtflclnn. 
vol..   I.  30 


466 


ROBERT  KING  OF  NAPLES.   Chap.  III.  Paet  II. 


reign 


evinced  the  wisdom  of  this  determination.  Robert,  a 
wise  and  active,  though  not  personally  a  martial  prince,  main- 
tained the  ascendency  of  the  Guelf  faction,  and  the  papal 
influence  connected  with  it,  against  the  formidable  combina- 
tion of  Ghibelin  usurpers  in  Lombardy,  and  the  two  empe- 
rors Henry  VII.  and  Louis  of  Bavaria.  No  male  issue 
survived  Robert,  whose  crown  descended  to  his  granddaughter 
Joanna.  She  had  been  espoused,  while  a  child,  to  her  cousin 
Andrew,  son  of  Carobert  king  of  Hungary,  who  was  educated 
with  her  in  the  court  of  Naples.  Auspiciously  contrived  as 
this  union  might  seem  to  silence  a  subsisting  claim  upon  the 
kingdom,  it  proved  eventually  the  source  of  civil  war  and 
calamity  for  a  hundred  and  fifty  years.  Andrew's  manners 
were  barbarous,  more  worthy  of  his  native  country  than  of 
that  polished  court  wherein  he  had  been  bred.  He  gave 
himself  up  to  the  society  of  Hungarians,  who  taught  him  to 
beheve  that  a  matrimonial  crown  and  derivative  royalty  were 
derogatory  to  a  prince  who  claimed  by  a  paramount  hered- 
itary right.  In  fact,  he  was  pressing  the  court  of 
Avignon  to  permit  his  own  coronation,  which  would 
have  placed  in  a  very  hazardous  condition  the  rights  of  the 
queen,  with  whom  he  was  living  on  ill  terms,  when  one  night 
he  was  seized,  strangled,  and  thrown  out  of  a  window.  Public 
rumor,  in  the  absence  of  notorious  proof,  imputed 
the  guilt  of  this  mysterious  assassination  to  Joanna. 
Whether  historians  are  authorized  to  assume  her 
participation  in  it  so  confidently  as  they  have  gen- 
erally done,  may  perhaps  be  doubted ;  though  I  cannot  ven- 
ture positively  to  rescind  their  sentence.  The  circumstances 
of  Andrew's  death  were  undoubtedly  pregnant  with  strong 
suspicions.-^     Louis  king  of  Hungary,  his  brother,  a  just  and 


A.D.  1343. 


Joanna. 
Murder  of 
her  husband 
Andrew. 


1  The  Chronicle  of  Dominic  di  Gra- 
vina  (Script.  Rer.  Ital.  t.  xii.)  seems  to 
be  our  best  testimony  for  the  circum- 
stances connected  with  Andrew's  death  ; 
and  after  reading  his  narrative  more 
than  once,  I  find  myself  undecided  as  to 
this  perplexed  and  mysterious  story. 
Gravina's  opinion,  it  should  be  observed, 
is  extremely  hostile  to  tlie  queen. 
Nevertheless  there  are  not  wanting  pre- 
sumptions that  Charles,  first  duke  of 
Durazzo,  who  had  married  the  sister  of 
Andrew,  was  concerned  in  his  murder, 
for  whicli  in  fact  he  was  afterwards  put 
to  death  by  the  king  of  Hungary.  But, 
if  the  duke  of  Durazzo  was  guilty,  it  is 


unlikely  that  Joanna  should  be  so  too ; 
because  she  was  on  very  bad  terms  with 
him,  and  indeed  the  chief  proofs  against 
her  are  founded  on  the  investigation 
which  Durazzo  himself  professed  to  in- 
stitute. Confessions  obtained  through 
torture  are  as  little  credible  in  history  as 
they  ought  to  be  in  judicature  ;  even  if 
we  could  be  positively  sure,  which  is  not 
the  case  in  this  instance,  that  such  con- 
fessions were  ever  made.  However,  I  do 
not  pretend  to  acquit  Joanna,  but  merely 
to  notice  the  uncertainty  that  rests  over 
her  story,  on  account  of  the  positiveness 
with  wliich  all  historians,  except  those 
of  Naples  and  the  Abbe  de  Sade,  whose 


Italy.  JO.VXXA.  4G7 

Stern  prince,  invaded  Nai>les:.  jtartly  a.'^  an  avoniror.  partly  a-» 
a  conqueror.  The  queen  and  her  seeond  husband,  Louis  of 
Tarento.  tied  to  Provence,  where  her  acquittal,  after  a  solemn, 
it"  not  an  impartial,  invest itration,  was  pronounced  I ly  Clement 
VI.  Louis,  mi'anwhile.  found  it  more  ditfieult  to  retain  than 
to  acquire  tiie  kingdom  oi'  Xa])les  ;  his  own  dominion  required 
his  presence ;  and  Joanna  soon  recovered  her  crown.  She 
reigned  for  thirtv  vears  more  without  the  attack  of  any 
enemv,  but  not  intt-rmeddlinji.  like  her  progenitors,  in  the 
general  concerns  of  Italy.  Childless  by  four  husbands,  the 
succession  of  Joanna  began  to  excite  ambitious  speculations. 
Of  all  the  male  descendants  of  Charles  I.  none  remained  but 
the  king  of  Hungary,  and  Charles  duke  of  Durazzo,  who 
had  married  the  queen's  niece,  and  was  regarded  by  her  as 
the  )>resumptive  heir  to  the  crown.  But,  ottended  by  her 
marriage  with  Otho  of  lirunswick,  he  procured  the  assistance 
of  an  Hungarian  army  to  inva<le  the  kingdom,  and,  getting 
the  (lueen  into  his  power,  took  possession  of  the  throne.  In 
this  enteqjrise  he  was  seconded  by  Urban  VI.,  against  whom 
Joanna  had  unfortunately  declared  in  the  great  schism  of  the 
church.  She  was  smothered  with  a  pillow,  in  prison,  I)y  the 
order  of  Charles.     The  name  of  Joan  of  Naples 

...  1     1  t  1  .•    •  i'  1  •  A.D.  13(8. 

ha^  sutlered  by  the  lax  repetUion  of  cahnnmes. 
AVhatever  share  she  may  have  had  in  her  husband's  death, 
and  certaiulv  under  circumstances  of  extenuation,  her  sub- 
secjuent  life  was  not  open  to  any  flagrant  reproach.  The 
charge  of  dissolute  manners,  so  frequently  made,  is  not 
warranted  by  any  specific  proof  or  contemporary  testi- 
mony. 

In  the  extremity  of  Joanna's  distress  she  had  sought  assist- 
ance fi'om  a  quarter  too  remote  to  afford  it  in  time  for  her 
reli<'f     She  adopted  Louis  duke  of  Anjou,  eldest  uouseof 
uncle  of  the  young  king  of  France,  Charles  VI.,  as  •'^"J""- 
her  heir  in  the  kingdom  of  Naples  and  county  of  Provence. 
This  bequest  took  cf^V-ct  witiiout  difficulty  in  the  latter  coun- 
try.    Naples  was  entirely  in  the  possession  of  Charles  of 
Durazzo.     Louis,  however,  entered  Italy  with  a  very  large 
army,  consisting  at  least  of  30,000  cavalry,  and,  according  to 
S(ime    writers,    mon-   than   double   that    ninnber.^       lie    was 

rindlratlon  (VIp  de  IV-tntniuc,  t.  II.  notes)    Jx-cn  liiT  own  nrt,  an  if  rIic  liiul  onlered 

doea   her   more   hnrm   tluiii   gfKxi,   linvu     bin  cxnutldii  in  ojh'Ii  iliiv. 

BMumcU  the  muitliT  of  Audrew  to  liavo        '  Munitori ;  Suuimonto  j  Coitanzo. 


468  LADISLAUS.  Chap.  III.  Part  II. 

joined  by  many  Neapolitan  barons  attached  to  the  late 
queen.  But,  by  a  fate  not  unusual  in  so  imperfect  a  state 
of  military  science,  this  armament  produced  no  adequate 
effect,  and  mouldered  away  through  disease  and  want  of 
provisions.  Louis  himself  dying  not  long  afterwards,  the 
government  of  Charles  III.  appeared  secure,  and  he  was 
tempted  to  accept  an  offer  of  the  crown  of  Hungary.  This 
enterprise,  equally  unjust  and  injudicious,  terminated  in  his 
assassination.  Ladislaus,  his  son,  a  child  ten  years  old,  suc- 
ceeded to  the  throne  of  Naples,  under  the  guardianship  of 
his  mother  Margaret,  whose  exactions  of  money  producing 
discontent,  the  party  which  had  supported  the  late  duke  of 
Anjou  became  powerful  enough  to  call  in  his  son.  Louis  IL, 
as  he  was  called,  reigned  at  Naples,  and  possessed  most  part 
of  the  kingdom,  for  several  years ;  the  young  king  Ladislaus, 
who  retained  some  of  the  northern  provinces,  fixing  his  resi- 
dence at  Gaeta.  If  Louis  had  prosecuted  the  war  with 
activity,  it  seems  probable  that  he  would  have  subdued  his 
adversaiy.  But  his  character  was  not  very  energetic ;  and 
Ladislaus,  as  he  advanced  to  manhood,  displaying  much 
superior  qualities,  gained  ground  by  degrees,  till  the  Ange- 
vin barons,  perceiving  the  turn  of  the  tide,  came  over  to  his 
banner,  and  he  recovered  his  whole  dominions. 

The  kingdom  of  Naples,  at  the  close  of  the  fourteenth 
century,  was  still  alto2;ether  a  feudal  government. 

Ladislaus  .  . 

This  had  been  introduced  by  the  first  Noi'man 
kings,  and  the  system  had  rather  been  strengthened  than 
impaired  under  the  Angevin  line.  The  princes  of  the  blood, 
who  were  at  one  time  numerous,  obtained  extensive  domains 
by  way  of  appanage.  The  principality  of  Tarento  was  a 
large  portion  of  the  kingdom.-^  The  rest  was  occupied  by 
some  great  famihes,  whose  strength,  as  well  as  pride,  was 
shown  in  the  number  of  men-at-arms  whom  they  could  mus- 
ter under  their  banner.  At  the  coronation  of  Louis  IL,  in 
1390,  the  Sanseverini  appeared  with  1800  cavalry  completely 
equipped.^  This  illustrious  house,  which  had  filled  all  the 
high  offices  of  state,  and  changed  kings  at  its  pleasure,  was 
crushed  by  Ladislaus,  whose  bold  and  unrelenting  spirit  well 

1  It  comprehended  the  provinces  now  1463,  had  4000  troops  in  arms,  and  the 

called  Terra  d'Otranto  and  Terra  di  Barl ;  value   of  1.000,000  florins  in  movables, 

besides   part  of  those   adjoining.     Sum-  Sismondi,  t.  x.  p.  151. 

monte,  Istoria  di  Napoli,  t.  iii.  p.  537.  2  Summonte,  t.  iii.  p.  517;  Giannone, 

Orsini.  prince  of  Tarento,   who  died  in  1.  xxiv.  c.  4. 


Italy.  JOAXXA  II.  409 

fitted  him  to  bruise  the  lieatls  of  the  aristoenilie  hy(h-:i. 
Alter  thoroughly  estabhshiug  his  government  at  liome.  this 
ambitious  monarch  directed  his  powertul  resources  towards 
foreign  conciuests.  The  ecclesiastical  territories  had  never 
been  >ecure  from  rcltcllion  or  usnri)ation ;  but  legitimate 
sovereigns  had  hitherto  respected  the  patrimony  of  the  Ik  ail 
of  the  church.  It  was  reserved  for  Ladislaus.  a  feudal  vas- 
sal of  the  Holy  See,  to  seize  upon  Rome  itself  as  his  spoil. 
For  several  yeax's,  while  the  di.<ionlered  state  of  the  church, 
in  consequence  of  the  schism  and  the  means  taken  to  extin- 
guish it.  gave  him  an  opportunity,  the  king  of  Naples  occu- 
pied great  i)art  of  the  papal  territories.  He  was  disposed  to 
liave  carried  his  arms  farther  north,  and  attacked  the  republic 
of  Florence,  if  not  the  states  of  Lombardy,  when  liis  death 
relieved  Italy  from  the  danger  of  this  new  tyranny. 

An  elder  sister,  Joana  II.,  reigned  at  Naples  after  Ladis- 
laus.    Under  this  queen,  destitute  of  corn-age  and  j^^^^^jj 
understanding,   and   the   slave   of  ajipetites  which  " 
her  age   remlered  douldy  disgracefid,  the  kingdom    relapsed 
into  tliat  state  of  anarcliy  from  which  its  late  sovereign  had 
rescued  it.     I  shall  only  refer  tlie  reader  to  more  eidarged 
hi^tories  tor  the  lirst  years  of  Joanna's  reign.     In    1421   the 
two  most  powerful  individuals  were  Sforza  Attendolo,  great 
constalile,  and  Ser  Gianni  Caraceioli,  the  ([ueen's  minion,  who 
governed  the  palace  with  unlimited  sway.     Sforza,  aware  that 
the  favorite   was  contriving  his  ruin,  and  remembering  the 
prison  in  which  he  had  lain  more  than  once  .since  the  accession 
of  .Toaima,  determined  to  anticipate  his  enemies  by  calling  in 
a  pretender  to  the  crown,  another  Louis  of  Anjou.  tiiinl   in 
descent  of  that   unsucces.sful  dynasty.     The  Angevin    party, 
though  proscribed  and  o])pressed,  was  not  extinct  ;   and  the 
jKtpulace  of  Naples  in  particular   had   always   been   on  that 
side.     Caraccioli's    influence    and   the    queen's   di.<honorable 
weakness  rendered  the  nobility  disattected.     Louis  III.,  there- 
fore, had  no  remote  prospect  of  success.      But  Caraceioli  was 
more  prudent  than  favorites,  .^ielected  from  such  motives,  have 
UMiallv  proved.     Joanna  was  old  and  childless;  the  reversion 
to    her    dominion"!  was  a   valuable   object    to  any  AiiopMnn  of 
prince  in   Europe.     None  was  .xo  competent  to  as-  ^'^'^^,'^,;"^,"" 
sist  her,  or  so  likely  to  be  influenced  l)y  the  hope  Air.iiroof 
of  .succession,  as  Alfonso  king  of  Aragon  and  Sic-  '"   ^' 
ily.     That  i-^iand,  after  the  reign  of  its  deliverer,  Frederic  I., 


470  ALFONSO   OF  ARAGON.      Chap.  III.  Pakt  II. 

had  unfortunately  devolved  upon  weak  or  infant  princes. 
One  great  family,  the  Chiaranionti,  had  possessed  itself  of 
half  Sicily ;  not  by  a  feudal  title  as  in  other  kingdoms,  but  as 
a  kind  of  counter-sovereignty,  in  opposition  to  the  ci'own, 
though  affecting  rather  to  bear  arms  against  the  advisers  of 
their  kings  than  against  themselves.  The  marriage  of  Maria, 
queen  of  Sicily,  with  Martin,  son  of  the  king  of  Aragon,  put 
an  end  to  the  national  indej)endence  of  her  countiy.  Dying 
without  issue,  she  left  the  crown  to  her  husband.  This  was 
consonant,  perhaps,  to  the  received  law  of  some  European 
kingdoms.  But,  upon  the  death  of  Martin,  in  1409,  his 
father,  also  named  Martin,  king  of  Aragon,  took  possession  as 
heir  to  his  son,  without  any  election  by  the  Sicilian  parlia- 
ment. The  Chiaramonti  had  been  destroyed  by  the  younger 
Martin,  and  no  party  remained  to  make  opposition.  Thus 
was  Sicily  united  to  the  crown  of  Aragon.  Alfonso,  who 
now  enjoyed  those  two  crowns,  gladly  embraced  the  proposals 
of  the  queen  of  Naples.  They  were  founded,  indeed,  on  the 
most  substantial  basis,  mutual  interest.  She  adopted  Alfonso 
as  her  son  and  successor,  while  he  bound  himself  to  employ 
his  forces  in  delivering  a  kingdom  that  was  to  become  his 
own.  Louis  of  Anjou,  though  acknowledged  in  several  prov- 
inces, was  chiefly  to  depend  upon  the  army  of  Sforza  ;  and  an 
army  of  Italian  mercenaries  could  only  be  kept  by  means 
which  he  was  not  able  to  apply.  The  king  of  Aragon,  there- 
fore, had  far  the  better  prospects  in  the  war,  when  one  of  the 
many  revolutions  of  this  reign  defeated  his  immediate  expec- 
tations. Whether  it  were  that  Alfonso's  noble  and  affable 
nature  afforded  a  contrast  which  Joanna  was  afraid  of  exhib- 
iting to  the  people,  or  that  he  had  really  formed  a  plan  to  an- 
ticipate his  succession  to  the  throne,  she  became  more  and 
more  distrustful  of  her  adopted  son,  till,  an  open  rupture  hav- 
its  revoca-  i»g  taken  place,  she  entered  into  a  treaty  with  her 
fivor  of  hereditary  competitor,  Louis  of  Anjou,  and,  revok- 

Louis  of  ing  the  adoption  of  Alfonso,  substituted  the  French 
Anjou.  prince  in  his  room.     The  king  of  Aragon  was  dis- 

appointed by  this  unforeseen  stroke,  which,  uniting  the  Ange- 
vin faction  with  that  of  the  reigning  family,  made  it  imprac- 
ticable for  him  to  maintain  his  ground  for  any  length  of  time 
in  the  kingdom.  Joanna  reigned  for  more  than  ten  years 
without  experiencing  any  inquietude  from  the  pacific  spirit  of 
Louis,  who,  content  with  his  reversionary  hopes,  lived  as  a 


Italy. 


^VLFONSO  KING  OF  NAPLES. 


471 


sort  of  exile  in  Calabria.'^  Upon  his  death,  the  qucon,  wlio 
did  not  lontr  survive  hira,  settled  the  kingdom  on  his  brother 
Rejrnier.  The  Neai>olit!Uis  were  genernlh'  disposed  to  exe- 
cute this  betjuest.  But  Keirnier  was  indne\ily  at  that  time  a 
prisoner  to  the  duke  of  liingundy;  and  though  his  wife  main- 
tained the  cause  with  great  spirit,  it  was  ditheult  lor  her,  or 
even  for  himself  to  eont<Mid  against  the  king  of  Aragon,  who 
immediately  laitl  claim  to  the  kingdom.  After  a  contest  of 
several  years,  Regnier,  having  experienced  the  treacherous 
and  .selfish  abandonment  of  his  frientls,  yielded  the  game  to 
his  adversary ;  ami  Alfonso  founded  the  Aragonese  line 
of  sovereigns  at  Naples,  deriving  pretensions  more  splendid 
than  just  from  !Manfred,  from  the  house  of  Suabia,  and  from 
Roger   Guiscard.'- 

In  the  fir?t  year  of  Alfon.so's  Neapolitan  war  he  was  defeated 
and  taken  prisoner  by  a  fleet  of  the  Genoese,  who,  j^,jj,„j^ 
as  constant   enemies   of    the    Catalans   in   all    the  kiiin  of 
naval  warfare  of  the  Mediterranean,  had  willingly  ^"p'^^- 
lent  their  aid  to  tlie  Angevin  party,     Genoa  was  at  this  time 
subject  to  FiUi)i)0  Maria  duke  of  ^Nlilan,  and  her  royal  cap- 
tive   was   transmitted  to  his  court.     But   here    the   brilliant 
graces  of  ^Vlfuiiso's  character  won   over  his  conrpieror,  who 
had  no  reason  to  consider  the  war  as  his  own  concern.     The 
king  persnaded  him,  on  the  contrary,  that  a  strict  allianci'  with 
an  Anigonese  dyna.<ty  in  Naples  against  the  pretensions  of 
any  French  claimant  would  be  the  true  policy  and  best  secu- 


1  Joanna's  f^reat  fiivoritc.  Caraooinli. 
ft-U  a  victim  soinp  tiini?  tjoforv  liin  mis- 
tre8«"8  death  to  an  intrij^iu-  of  f  lie  paliioo ; 
the  (liiPhesd  of  Se.-win,  a  new  favorite, 
bavini;  preT.iili-il  on  ttie  fwljle  oM  queen 
to  permit  liiiii  to  lie  ii!i«ii*"inat<il.  Aliout 
thin  time  Alfonso  lia<l  every  rea.son  to 
hope  for  tlie  renewal  «(  the  lU'ttlenient 
in  hi»  favor.  Canicrltili  hail  himself 
ojieneil  a  iieKoliation  with  the  kinjf  of 
Ari(fon  ;  and  afl<-r  hij<  death  the  dueheHS 
of  A-njda  eniharked  in  the  wiuie  oanse. 
Jo<in  even  revokeil  woretlv  the  adoption 
of  the  duke  of  .Viijnn.  Thin  rlrcunintanre 
niixht  ap|M-ar  clnuhlful :  Imt  the  liii«- 
torinn  t'>  whom  I  refi-r  hait  piilillNlied 
the  art  of  revoeatlon  itwlf,  «hi<-h  Ix-iin) 
(lute  April  llth,  W.fi.  /urita  (Annale« 
de  Aru(;on,  t.  iv.  p.  217)  adiiiitJi  that  no 
other  writer,  either  ronteniponiry  or  Hub- 
lu-quent.  haji  mentioned  any  part  of  the 
tniiuta<-tion.  whirh  muKt  hive  Immmi  kept 
Very    weret  ;    hut    hin    authority    in    no 


re^|H'otj\ble  that  T  thought  it  worth  no- 
tice, however  uninteresting  these  remote 
intrigues  may  appear  to  most  readers. 
Joanna  xoon  changed  her  mind  again, 
and  took  no  overt  steps  in  lavor  of  Al- 
foriKo. 

-  Accorilinn  to  a  treaty  between  Fred- 
eric III.,  kiiijr  of  Sicily,  and  Joanna  I. 
of  Naples,  in  13<>;J,  the  former  monarch 
\riui  to  assume  the  title  of  kinc  of  Trin- 
acria,  leavini?  the  ori^rinal  style  to  the 
Nea|iolitan  line.  But  neither  he  nor  his 
successors  in  the  island  eviT  complied 
with  this  condition,  or  entitled  tlieni- 
s«dveH  iithenvise  tliiiM  kiofrs  of  Sicily  ul- 
tra I'harum.  in  coiitnidlstinction  to  the 
other  kiofriloni.  which  they  denominated 
Sicily  citra  I'harum.  Allo'n.so  of  Ani(;on, 
when  he  united  both  tlicsi',  was  the  tlrst 
who  took  the  title.  Kim;  of  the  Two 
Sicilies,  which  his  succe.-sors  have  re- 
tained ever  since,     liianuone,   t.   ill.    p. 


472  QUADRUPLE  LEAGUE.     Ch.vp.  IIL  Pakt  II. 

rity  of  Milan.  That  city,  which  he  had  entered  as  a  prisoner, 
he  left  as  a  friend  and  ally.  From  this  time  Filippo  Ma- 
ria Visconti  and  Alfonso  Avere  firmly  united  in  their  Italian 
politics,  and  formed  one  weight  of  the  balance  which  the  re- 
His  con-  publics  of  Venice  and  Florence  kej^t  in  equipoise. 
nection  After  the  succession   of  Sforza  to  the  duchy  of 

with  Jiiian.  ]\j;iijj^  ti^g  same  alliance  was  generally  preserved. 
Sforza  had  still  more  powerful  reasons  than  his  predecessor 
for  excluding  the  Fi'ench  from  Italy,  his  own  title  being  con- 
tested by  the  duke  of  Orleans,  who  derived  a  claim  from  his 
mother  Valentine,  a  daughter  of  Gian  Galeazzo  Visconti. 
But  the  two  republics  were  no  longer  disposed  towards  war. 
Florence  had  spent  a  great  deal  without  any  advantage  in  her 
contest  with  Filippo  Maria ;  -^  and  the  new  duke  of  Milan  had 
been  the  constaiat  personal  friend  of  Cosmo  de'  Medici,  who 
altogether  influenced  that  republic.  At  Venice,  indeed,  he 
had  been  regarded  with  very  different  sentiments  ;  the  senate 
had  prolonged  their  war  against  Milan  with  redoubled  ani- 
mosity after  his  elevation,  deeming  him  a  not  less  ambitious 
and  more  formidable  neighbor  than  the  Visconti.  But  they 
were  deceived  in  the  chai'acter  of  Sforza.  Conscious  that 
he  had  reached  an  eminence  beyond  his  early  hopes,  he  had 
no  care  but  to  secure  for  his  family  the  possession  of  Milan, 
without  disturbing  the  balance  of  Lombardy.  No  one  bet- 
ter knew  than  Sforza  the  faithless  temper  and  destructive 
politics  of  the  condottieri,  whose  interest  was  placed  in  the 
oscillations  of  interminable  war,  and  whose  defection  might 
shake  the  stability  of  any  government.  "Without  peace  it 
was  impossible  to  break  that  ruinous  system,  and  accustom 
states  to  rely  upon  their  natural  resources.  Venice  had 
little  reason  to  expect  further  conquests  in  Lombai'dy  ;  and 
if  her  ambition  had  inspired  the  hope  of  them,  she  was  sum- 
moned by  a  stronger  call,  that  of  self-preservation,  to  defend 
her  numerous  and  dispersed  possessions  in  the  Levant  against 
the  arms  of  Mahomet  II.  All  Italy,  indeed,  felt  the  peril 
Quadruple  that  impended  from  that  side ;  and  these  various 
ip'^s^of  motions  occasioned  a  quadruple  league  in  1455, 
between  the  king  of  Naples,  the  duke  of  Milan, 
and  the  two  republics,  for  the  preservation  of  peace  in  Italy. 
One  object  of  this  alliance,  and  the  prevailing  object  with 

1  The  war  ending  with   the   peace  of     repuhhc   of   Florence    3,500,000  florins. 
Ferrara,  in  1428,  is  said  to  have  cost  the    Ammirato,  p.  1043. 


Italy.  FERDINAND.  473 

Alfoii-o,  w;v*  tlie  iinplii'd  giiaraiitL'o  of  his  succession  in  the 
kiiigiluin  ot"  Na[)les  to  his  iUcgitiniate  son  Fcnhiiand.  He 
hail  no  hiwtiil  issue  ;  and  there  seemed  no  reason  why  an  ac- 
qnisition  ot"  his  own  valor  should  i)a-s  against  his  will  to  i-ol- 
hiteral  heirs.  The  pope,  as  teiidal  superior  of  the  kingdom, 
and  the  Neapolitan  parliament,  the  sole  competent  tribunal, 
continued  the  inheritance  of  Ferdinand.^  Whatever  may  he 
thoufrht  of  the  claim-  subsi-tinj;  in  the  house  of  Anion,  there 
Qiin  be  no  question  that  the  reigning  tamily  of  Aragon  were 
legitimately  excluded  from  the  throne  of  Naples,  though 
force  and  treachery  enaldctl  them  ultimately  to  olitain  it. 

Alt()nso,  surnamecl  the  ^lagnaninions,  was  by  far  the  most 
accomplished  sovereign  whom  the  fifteenth  century  character 
produced.  The  virtues  of  chivalry  were  (•om1)ined  of  Alfonso. 
in  liim  with  the  patronage  of  letters,  and  with  nu)re  tiian  their 
patronage,  a  real  enthusiasm  for  learning,  seldom  found  in  a 
king,  and  especially  in  one  so  active  and  ambitious,-  This 
devotion  to  literature  was,  among  the  Italians  of  that  age, 
almost  as  sure  a  passport  to  general  admiration  as  his  more 
chivalrous  jierfection.  Magnificence  in  architecture  and  the 
pageantrv  of  a  splendid  coiu't  gave  fresh  lu-^fre  to  his  reign. 
The  Neapolitans  perceived  with  grateful  pride  that  he  lived 
almo-t  entirely  among  them,  in  preference  to  his  patrimonial 
kingdom,  and  forgave  the  heavy  taxes  which  faults  nearly 
allied  to  his  virtues,  profuseness  and  ambition,  compelled  him 
to  imj)ose.'  But  they  remarked  a  very  different  character  in 
his  son.      Ferdinand  was  as  dark  and  vindictive  as  „    ,. 

,  .     ,.     ,  ...  ,  ,  ,  rni        1  Ferdinand, 

hi-  father  wa-  ailahle  and  generous.      llie  harons, 

who  had  many  opportunities  of  ascertaining  his  disposition, 

began,  immediately  upon  Alfonso's  death,  to  cabal  against  his 

succession,  turning  tln-ir  eyes  first   to  tiie  legitimate   branch 

of  the  fiimilv,  and,  on  finding  that  pros])ect  not  fiivorable,  to 

John,  titular  dnke  of  Calabria,  son  of  liegnier  of        .,,., 

.       .    '  ,  .  ,  .  ,    "  ,         A.D.  1401 

Anjou,  wlio  survived  to  protest  agamst  the  revohi- 
tion  that  had  dc.-throned  him.  Jolin  was  easily  prevailed  upon 
to  undertake  an  invasion  of  Naples.  Notwitli.-tanding  tlie 
treaty  concluded  in  1  4. '».">,  Florence  assi.sted  him  with  money, 
and  Venice  at  lea-t  with  her  wishes  ;  but  Sforza  reinaiiuMl 
un.-haken    in   that  alliance  with    Ferdinand  which  his  cleai- 

>  Glnnnonv,  1.  xxtI.  c.  2.  kint?  of  iin  illnens.     See  other  proofs  of 

s  A  •lory  l«  I'll. I.  true  or  falno,  that  his  hiit   love  of  letterH  lu  Tiruboschi,  t.  vl. 

dfllKlit  in  heariiiK  QtiiiittiH  CurtiiiH  ri-iul,  p.  4(). 

without  any  other  uicdicine,  cured  tho  ^  (Jiuiinoue,  1.  xxvi. 


474 


STATE  OF  ITALY. 


Chap.  III.  Part  II. 


sighted  policy  discerned  to  be  the  best  safeguard  for  his  own 
dynasty.  A  large  proportion  of  the  Neapolitan  nobility, 
including  Orsini  prince  of  Tarento,  the  most  powerful  vassal 
of  the  crown,  raised  the  banner  of  Anjou,  which  was  sus- 
tained also  by  the  youngest  Piccinino,  the  last  of  the  great 
condottieri,  under  whose  command  the  veterans  of  former 
warfare  rejoiced  to  serve.  But  John  underwent  the  fate  that 
had  always  attended  his  family  in  their  long  competition  for 
that  throne.  After  some  brilliant  successes,  his  want  of  re- 
sources, aggravated  by  the  defection  of  Genoa,  on  whose 
ancient  enmity  to  the  house  of  Aragon  he  had  relied,  was 
perceived  by  the  barons  of  his  party,  who,  accord- 
ing to  the  practice  of  their  ancestors,  returned  one 
by  one  to  the  allegiance  of  Ferdinand. 

The  peace  of  Italy  was  little  disturbed,  except  by  a  few 
domestic  revolutions,  for  several  years  after  this 
Neapolitan  war.-"-  Even  the  most  short-sighted 
politicians  were  sometimes  withdrawn  from  seltish 
objects  by  the  ap^Dalling  progress  of  the  Turks, 
though  there  was  not  energy  enough  in  their  coun- 


State  of 
Italy  iu  the 
latter  part 
of  the 
fifteenth 
century. 


1  The  following  distribution  of  a  tax 
of  458,000  florins,  imposed,  or  rather  pro- 
posed, in  1464,  to  defray  the  expense  of 
a  general  war  against  the  Turks,  will 
give  a  notion  of  the  relative  wealth  and 
resources  of  the  Italian  powers ;  but  it  is 
probable  that  the  pope  rated  himself 
above  his  fair  contingent.  He  was  to 
pav  100,000  florins ;  the  Venetians  100,- 
000;  Ferdinand  of  Naples  80,000;  the 
duke  of  Milan  70,000 ;  Florence  50,000 ; 
the  duke  of  Modoua  20,000 ;  Siena  15,- 
000;  the  marquis  of  Mantua  10,000; 
Lucca  8,000  ;  the  marquis  of  Montferrat 
5,000.  Simondi,  t.  x.  p.  229.  A  similar 
assessment  occurs  (p.  307)  where  the  pro- 
portions are  not  quite  the  same. 

Perhaps  it  may  be  worth  while  to  ex- 
tract an  estimate  of  the  force  of  all 
Christian  powers,  written  about  1454, 
from  Sanuto's  Lives  of  the  Doges  of 
Venice,  p.  963.  Some  parts,  however, 
appear  very  questionable.  The  king  of 
France,  it  is  said,  can  raise  30,000  men- 
at-arms  ;  but  for  any  foreign  enterprise 
only  15,000.  The  king  of  England  can 
do  the  same.  These  powers  are  exactly 
equal  ;  otherwise  one  of  the  two  would 
be  destroyed.  The  king  of  Scotland, 
"  ch'  e  signore  di  grandi  paesi  e  popoli 
con  grando  poverti,"  can  raise  10,000 
men-at-arms :  the  king  of  Norw.ay  the 
same:  the  king  of  Spain  (Castile) 
30,000:     the    king    of    Portugal    6000: 


the  duke  of  Savoy  8000:  the  duke  of 
Milan  10,000.  The  republic  of  Venice 
can  pay  from  her  revenues  10.000  :  that 
of  Florence  4000  :  the  pope  6000.  The 
emperor  and  empire  can  raise  60,000 ; 
the  king  of  Hungary  80,000  (not  men- 
at-arms,  certainly). 

The  king  of  France,  in  1414,  had 
2,000,000  ducats  of  revenue ;  but  now 
only  half.  The  king  of  England  had 
then  as  much  ;  now  only  700,000.  The 
king  of  Spain's  revenue  also  is  reduced 
by  the  wars  from  3.000,000  to  800,000. 
The  duke  of  Burgundy  had  3,000,000; 
now  900,000.  The  duke  of  Milau  had 
sunk  from  1,000,000  to  500,000  :  Venice 
from  1,100,000,  which  she  possessed  in 
1423,  to  800,000:  Florence  from  400,000 
to  200,000. 

These  statistical  calculations,  which 
are  not  quite  accurate  as  to  Venice,  and 
probably  much  less  so  as  to  some  other 
states,  are  chiefly  remarkable  as  they 
manifest  that  comprehensive  spirit  of 
treating  all  the  powers  of  Europe  as 
parts  of  a  common  system  which  began 
to  actuate  the  Italians  of  the  fifteenth 
century.  Of  these  enlarged  views  of 
poUcy  the  writings  of  iEueas  Sylvius 
afford  an  eminent  instance.  Besides  the 
more  general  and  insensible  causes,  the 
increase  of  navigation  and  revival  of  lit- 
erature, this  may  be  ascribed  to  the  con- 
tinual dafigcr  from  the  progress  of  the 


Italy.  AFFAIRS  OF  GENOA.  17o 

cib  to  form  anv  concertcil  plans  tor  their  own  security.    Venice 
maintained  a  Ion;;  I>ut  uhiniatelv  an  unsnccesstul  contest  with 
Mahonici    II.  for  her   maritime   acquisitions  in   Greece  and 
Alliania  :  and  it  was  not  till  after  his  death  relieved  Italy  from 
its  immediate  terror  that  the  ambitious  republic  endeavored 
to  extend  its  territories  by  encroaching  on  the  house  of  Este. 
Nor  had  3Iilan  shown   much  disijosition  towards        ,,^„ 
agjirandi/.ement.      Francesco  Sforza  had  been  suc- 
ceeded, such  is  the  condition  of  despotic  governments,  by  his 
sou  Galeazzo,  a  tyrant  more  execrable  than  the  worst  of  the 
Yisconti.      His  extreme  cruelties,  and  the  insolence  of  a  de- 
baucliery   that    gloried   in   the    public    dislionor   of  families, 
excited  a  few  diu'ing  spirits   to  assassinate   him. 
The  Milanese  profited  l)y  a  tyrannicide  the  ])crpe- 
trators  of  which  they  had  not  coinage  or  gratitude  to  protect. 
The  regency  of  Bonne  of  Savoy,  mother  of  the  infant  duke 
Gian  Galeazzo,  deserved  the  praise  of  wisdom  and  modera- 
tion.    But  it  was   overthrown  in  a  few  years  by  Ludovico 
Sibrza,  surnamed  the  Moor,  her  hu>band's  brother ; 
Avho,  while  he  proclaimed   his  nei)hew's  majority 
and  affected  to  treat  him  as  a  sovereign,  hardly  disguised  in 
his  conduct  towards  foreign  states  that  he  liAd  usurped  for 
himself  the  sole  direction  of  government. 

The  annals  of  one  of  the  few  surviving  republics,  that  of 
Genoa,  present  to  us,  during  the  fifteenth  as  well  ^^1^^,""^," j^*^ 
as  the  preceding  century,  an  unceasing  series  of  that  age, 
revolutions,  the  shortest  enumeration  of  which  would  occupy 
several  pages.  Torn  by  the  factions  of  Adoriii  and  Fregosi, 
equal  an<l  eternal  rivals,  to  whom  the  whole  patrician  families 
of  Doria  and  Fieschi  were  content  to  become  secondary, 
sometimes  ^inking  from  weariness  of  civil  tumult  into  the 
gnu<p  of  Milan  or  France,  and  again,  from  impatience  of 
foreign  sul)jection,  starting  back  from  servitude  to  anarchy, 
the  Genoa  of  those  ages  exhibits  a  singular  contrast  to  the 
calm  anil  regular  aristocracy  of  the  next  three  centuries. 
The  latest  revolution  within  the  compass  of  this  work  was 
in  1488,  when  the  duke  of  Mihm  became  sovereign,  and 
Adrtrno  holding  the  (jflicc  of  doge  as  his  lieutenant. 

FlorcMice,  the  nio-t   illii-trlous  and  fortunate  of  Italiiui  re- 

Oltoiimii  Brnm.  whirh  |p<l  tlio  pdliticiuiii*    tlierf.sourcesaudcUfipoiiltlongof  ChriKtian 
of  tliiit  ixirt  of  Kiirr>|ie  iiioiit  i-xporu-il  to    Htatoit. 
tlicui  iiitu  luuru  c-xu-otlTu  tIuwh  as   to 


476  AFFAIRS  OF  FLORENCE.  Chap.  III.  Part  II. 

publics,  was  now  rapidly  descending  from  her  rank  among 
and  of  free  commonwealths,  though  surrounded  with  more 

Florence.        jj^.^j^  usual  lustrc   in  the  eyes   of  Europe.     We 
must  take  up  the  story  of  that  city  from  the  revolution  of 
1382,  which  restored  the  ancient  Guelf  aristocracy,  or  party 
of  the  Albizi,  to  the  ascendency  of  which  a  popular  insurrec- 
tion had  stripped  them.     Fifty  years  elapsed  during  which 
this  party  retained  the  government  in  its  own  hands  with  few 
attempts  at  disturbance.    Their  principal  adversaries  had  been 
exiled,  according  to  the  invariable  and  perhaps  necessary  cus- 
tom of  a  republic  ;  the  populace  and  inferior  artisans  were 
dispirited  by  their  ill  success.     Compared  with  the  leaders  of 
other  factions,  Maso  degl'  Albizi,  and  Nicola  di  Uzzano,  who 
succeeded  him  in  the  management  of  his  party,  were  attached 
to  a  constitutional  liberty.     Yet  so  difficult  is  it  for  any  gov- 
ernment which  does  not  rest  on  a  broad  basis  of  public  con- 
sent to  avoid  injustice,  that  they  twice  deemed  it  necessary 
to  violate  the  ancient  constitution.     In  1393,  after  a  partial 
movement  in  behalf  of  the  vanquished  faction,  they  assembled 
a  pai'liament,  and  established  what  was  technically  called  at 
Florence  a  Balia.-^     This  was  a  temporary  delegation  of  sov- 
ereignty to  a  number,  generally  a  considerable  number,  of 
citizens,  who  during  the  period  of  their  dictatorship  named 
the  magistrates,  instead  of  drawing  them  by  lot,  and  banished 
suspected  individuals.     A  precedent  so  dangerous  was  event- 
ually fatal  to  themselves  and  to  the  freedom  of  their  country. 
Besides  this  temporary  balia,  the  regular  scrutinies  periodi- 
cally made  in  order  to  replenish  the  bags  out  of  which  the 
names  of  all  magistrates  were  drawn  by  lot,  according  to  the 
constitution  established  in  1328,  were  so  managed  as  to  ex- 
clude all  persons  disaffiscted  to  the  dominant  faction.     But, 
for  still  greater  security,  a  council  of  two  hundred  was  formed 
in   1411,  out  of  those  alone  Avho  had  enjoyed  some  of  the 
higher  offices  within  the  last  thirty  years,  the  period  of  the 
aristocratical  ascendency,   through   which   every  proposition 
was  to  pass  before  it  could  be  submitted  to  the  two  legislative 
councils.'^    These  precautions  indicate  a  government  conscious 
of  public  enmity ;  and  if  the  Albizi  had  continued  to  sway 
the  republic  of  Florence,  their  jealousy  of  the  people  would 
have  suggested  still  more  innovations,  till  the  constitution  had 

1  Ammirato,  p.  8-10.  2  lb.  p.  961. 


Italy.  RISE  OF  THE  MEDICI.  477 

acquiroil,  in  legal  form   as  well  a>  sul)>taiico.  an  absolutely 
aristooraticjil  charaeter. 

But,  while  eriishiiiir  with  deliltcrate  seventy  their  avowed 
adversaries,  the  ndiiii:  party  had  left  oue  family  whose  pru- 
dence jrave  no  reasonable  exeuse  for  iiersecuting  uisoof  the 
them,  and  whose  popularity  as  well  as  wealth  ren-  ^^'-'^^"■ 
di-n-d  the  experiment  hazardous.  The  Mcdiei  were  among 
the  nK»t  eon>ideral>le  of  the  new  or  pk-beian  nobility.  From 
the  first  years  of  the  fourteenth  century  their  name  not  very 
unfre(pientlv  occurs  in  the  domestic  and  military  annals  of 
Florence.^  Salvestro  de'  Medici,  who  had  been  partially  im- 
plicated in  the  demoeratical  revolution  that  lasted  from  1378 
to  1382,  escaped  proscription  on  the  revival  of  the  Guelf 
party,  though  some  of  his  tiunily  were  afterwards  banished. 
Throughout  the  long  depression  of  the  popular  faction  the 
house  of  Medici  was  always  regarded  as  their  consolation 
and  their  hope.  That  house  was  now^  represented  l)y  Gio- 
vamii,-  whose  immense  wealth,  honorably  acquired  by  com- 
mercial dealings,  which  had  already  rendered  the  name  cele- 
brated in  Europe,  was  expended  with  liberality  and  magnifi- 
cence. Of  a  mild  temper,  and  averse  to  cabals,  Giovanni 
de'  ^ledici  did  not  attempt  to  set  up  a  party,  and  contented 
himself  with  repressing  some  fresh  encroachments  on  the 
|topidar  part  of  the  constitution  which  the  Albizi  were  dis- 
p(i>ed  to  make.^  They,  in  tiieir  turn,  I'reely  admitted  him  to 
that  sliare  in  public  councils  to  which  he  was  entitled  by  his 
eminence  and  virtues;  a  ])roof  that  the  spirit  of  their  adniin- 
i>tration  was  not  illiberally  exclusive,  liut,  on  the  death  of 
Giovanni,  his  son  Cosmo  de'  Medici,  inheriting  his  father's 
riches  and  estimation,  with  more  talents  and  more  anil)iti()n, 
thought  it  time  to  avail  himself  of  the  popularity  belonging 
to  hi-  name.  ]iy  extensive  connections  with  the  most  emi- 
nent men  in  Italy,  especially  with  Sfbrza,  he  came  to  be  con- 
siilered  as  the  lirst  citizen  of  Florence.  The  oligarchy  were 
more  than  ever  unpopular.      Their  administration  >ince  lo<S2 

1  The  McTiri  nrc  cniiiiH'mtrHl  l.y  Vil-  Snlvpfitro  dc'  Mcilicl.     Their  fiimilios  nre 

Innl  ninoii^'  thif  rhii-fn  of  thi-  lllnrk  fiii-tioii  (uiiJ  [RT  luimo  triitto  iill(intjiiiar,-i.      Aiii- 

lii  lan.  1.  Tiii.  r.  71.     Otii"  of  thiit  fiiniily  ininito,  j).  'M2.     NfV«Tthcl(<s,  his  Kriiin 

wnii   Im-Ii<-.'ii|4mI   liy  onliT  of  Uif   iliikc  of  ilniwri    pinfiilotilcr    in     1-1'Jl     cn'iitfil    ii 

'•'            -r   l.'J4.3.   I.   xii.  r.  2.     It  Ik  "111-  irniit  H-iisation  in  thr  I'ity.  iiikI  |iiv|iiir<'J 

•  Mr.  lloKTo,.  nhoulil  n'fiT  thiir  the   way    to   the  HiilKHcciucut   revolution. 

;..        .,  ,     iniiin-  in  hl"tory,  iid  hi-  wi'Iiih  n>lJ.     .Macliiavflh,  1.  iv. 

to  do.  to  th<-  'ii-iiv  of  Srjir|i<Tiu  in  l.'i'jl.  "  Mucliiardii,  Intoriu  Klorcnt.  1.  iv. 
<  Ciuvminl   Hu  uot  ucarly   rclutvii  to 


478  KISE  OF  THE  MEDICI.      Chap.  III.  Part  II. 

had  indeed  been  in  general  eminently  successful ;  the  acquisi- 
tion of  Pisa  and  of  other  Tuscan  cities  had  aggrandized  the 
republic,  while  from  the  port  of  Leghorn  her  ships  had  begun 
to  trade  with  Alexandria,  and  sometimes  to  contend  with  the 
Genoese.^  But  an  unprosperous  war  with  Lucca  diminished 
a  reputation  which  was  never  sustained  by  public  affection. 
Cosmo  and  his  friends  aggravated  the  errors  of  the  govern- 
ment which  having  lost  its  wise  and  temperate  leader  Nicola 
di  Uzzano,  had  fallen  into  the  rasher  hands  of  Rinaldo  degl' 
Albizi.  He  incurred  the  blame  of  being  the  first  aggressor 
in  a  struggle  which  had  become  inevitable.  Cosmo  was 
"  arrested  by  command  of  a  gonfalonier  devoted  to 
A.D.  1433.  ^j^^  Albizi,  and  condemned  to  banishment.  But  the 
oligarchy  had  done  too  much  or  too  little.  The  city  was  full 
of  his  friends ;  the  honors  conferred  upon  him  in  his  exile 
attested  the  sentiments  of  Italy.  Next  year  he  was  recalled 
in  triumph  to  Florence,  and  the  Albizi  were  completely 
overthrown. 

It  is  vain  to  expect  that  a  victorious  faction  will  scruple 
to  retaliate  upon  its  enemies  a  still  greater  measure  of  in- 
justice than  it  experienced  at  their  hands.  The  vanquished 
have  no  rights  in  the  eyes  of  a  conqueror.  The  sword  of  re- 
turning exiles,  flushed  by  victory  and  incensed  by  suffering, 
falls  successively  upon  their  enemies,  upon  those  whom  they 
suspect  of  being  enemies,  upon  those  who  may  hereafter  be- 
come such.  The  Albizi  had  in  general  respected  the  legal 
forms  of  their  free  republic,  which  good  citizens,  and  per- 
haps themselves,  might  hope  one  day  to  see  more  effective. 
The  Medici  made  all  their  government  conducive  to  heredi- 
tary monarchy.  A  multitude  of  noble  citizens  were  driven 
from  their  country ;  some  were  even  put  to  death.  A  balia 
was  appointed  for  ten  years  to  exclude  all  the  Albizi  from 
magistracy,  and,  for  the  sake  of  this  security  to  the  ruling 
faction,  to  supersede  the  legitimate  institutions  of  the  republic. 

1  The  riorentines  sent  their  first  mer-  silk  and  cloth  of  gold  had  never  flourished 

chant-ship  to  Alexandria  in  1422,  with  so  much.    Architecture  shone  under  Bru- 

great  and  anxious  hopes.     Prayers  were  nelleschi :  literature  under  LeonardAretin 

ordered  for  the  success  of  the  republic  by  and  Filelfo.  p.  977.     There  is  some  truth 

sea,   and   an    embassy   despatched  with  in  M.  Sismondi's  remark,  that  the  Medici 

presents  to  conciliate  the  Sultan  of  Ha-  have  derived  part  of  their  glory  from  their 

bylon,  that  is,  of  Grand  Cairo.     Ammi-  predecessors  in  government,  whom  they 

rato,  p.  997.     Florence  had  never  before  subverted,  and  whom  they  have  rendered 

been  so  wealthy.     The  circulating  money  obscure.    But  the  Jlilanese  war,  breaking 

was  reckoned  (perhaps  extravagantly)  at  out  in  1423,  tended  a  good  deal  to  im- 

4,000,000  florins.     The  manufactures  of  poverish  the  city. 


Italy.  LORENZO  DE'   MEDICI.  479 

After  the  expiration  of  this  period  the  dietatorial  powtT  was 
renewed  on  pretence  of  fresh  daiijier,  and  this  was  repeated 
six  times  in  twenty-tme  years.^  In  14.")0  the  constitutional 
mode  of  drawing  magistrates  was  permitted  to  re\  ive,  against 
the  wishes  of  some  of  tlie  leacHng  party.  They  had  good 
reason  to  be  jealous  of  a  liberty  which  was  incompatible  with 
their  usurpation.  Tlie  gonfidoniers,  drawn  at  random  troiu 
among  respectable  citizens,  began  to  act  with  an  indcjxn- 
dcnce  to  which  the  new  oligarchy  was  little  accustomed. 
Cosmo,  indeed,  the  acknowledged  chief  of  tlie  party,  perceiv- 
ing that  some  who  had  acted  in  subordination  to  him  were 
looking  forward  to  the  opportunity  of  becoming  themselves  its 
leaders,  was  not  unwilling  to  throw  upon  them  the  unpopu- 
larity attached  to  an  usurpation  by  which  he  had  maintained 
his  inthience.  Without  his  apparent  participation,  though 
not  against  his  will,  the  free  constitution  was  again  suspended 
by  a  lialia  appointed  for  tlie  nomination  of  magistrates;  and 
the  regular  drawing  of  names  by  lot  seems  never  to  have 
been  restored.'  Cosmo  died  at  an  advanced  age  in  14G4. 
His  son.  Piero  de'  !Medici,  though  not  deficient  in  eitlier  vir- 
tues or  abilities,  seeme<l  too  infirm  in  health  tor  the  adminis- 
tration of  public  atl'airs.  At  least,  he  could  only  be  chosen 
by  a  sort  of  hereditary  title,  which  the  party  above  mentioned, 
some  from  patriotic,  more  from  selfish  motives,  were  reluc- 
tant to  a<lmit.  A  strong  opposition  was  raised  to  the  family 
pretensions  of  the  Medici.  Like  all  Florentine  factions,  it 
trusted  to  violence  ;  and  the  chance  of  arms  was  not  in  its 
favor.  From  this  revolution  in  1466,  when  some  of  the 
most  considerable  citizens  were  banished,  we  may  date  an 
acknowledged  supremacy  in  the  house  of  Medici,  the  chief 
of  wliich  nominated  the  regidar  magistrates,  and  drew  to 
him»elf  till-  whole  conduct  of  the  repidjlie.^ 

The  two  sons  of  Piero,  Lorenzo  and  Julian,  especially  the 
former,  though  young  at  their  father's  death,  assumed,  l)y  (he 
request  of  tlieir  friends,  the  reigns  of  government.  i^oroii7/> 
It  was  impossible  that,  among  a  people  who  had  >io'  Mi'IH- 
so  many  recollections  to  attach  to  the  name  of  lib- 
erty, among  so  many  citizens  wliom  their  ancient  constitution 
invited  to  ]iuldic  trust,  the  control  of  a  single  fiimily  should 

«  MnrhiaTflli,  1.  t.  ;  Aminlmto.  The  two  Inttor  nro  iMTixtiml  rrfin'nces 

«  AnitiilrnU..  t.  II.  i>.  K2-X7.  in  thin  |mrt  of  history,  w hiro  uo  other  U 

*  .\iiiniinito.   ji.  '.4 :    lt(.wtio"«  T»n'nw)  luoUc. 
(le'M«Jlcl,rU.2;  Machiiirtlll ;  .Sluuiomli. 


480  LORNlSrZO  DE'  MEDICI.     Chap.  III.  Part  II. 

excite  no  dissatisfaction  ;  and  perhaps  their  want  of  any  posi- 
tive authority  heightened  the  appearance  of  usurpation  in 
their  influence.  But,  if  tlie  people's  wish  to  resign  their 
fi-eedom  gives  a  title  to  accept  the  government  of  a  country, 
the  Medici  were  no  usurpers.  That  family  never  lost  the 
affections  of  the  populace.  The  cry  of  Palle,  Palle  (their 
armorial  distinction),  would  at  anytime  rouse  the  Florentines 
to  defend  the  chosen  patrons  of  the  republic.  If  their  sub- 
stantial influence  could  before  be  questioned,  the  conspiracy 
of  the  Pazzi,  wherein  Julian  perished,  excited  an  enthusiasm 
for  the  surviving  brother,  that  never  ceased  during  his  life. 
Nor  was  this  anything  unnatural,  or  any  severe  reproach  to 
Florence.  All  around,  in  Lombardy  and  Romagn;u  the  lamp 
of  liberty  had  long  since  been  extinguished  in  blood.  The 
freedom  of  Siena  and  Genoa  was  dearly  purchased  by  revo- 
lutionary proscriptions ;  that  of  Venice  was  only  a  name. 
The  republic  which  had  preserved  longest,  and  with  greatest 
purity,  that  vestal  fire,  had  at  least  no  relative  degradation  to 
fear  in  surrendering  herself  to  Lorenzo  de'  Medici.  I  need 
not  in  this  place  expatiate  upon  what  the  name  instantly  sug- 
gests, the  patronage  of  science  and  art,  and  the  constellation 
of  scholars  and  poets,  of  architects  and  painters,  whose  re- 
flected beams  cast  their  radiance  around  his  head.  His  polit- 
ical reputation,  though  far  less  durable,  was  in  his  own  age 
as  conspicuous  as  that  which  he  acquired  in  the  history  of 
letters.  Equally  active  and  sagacious,  he  held  his  way 
tln-ough  the  varying  combinations  of  Italian  policy,  always 
with  credit,  and  generally  with  success.  Florence,  if  not  en- 
riched, was  upon  the  whole  aggrandized  during  his  adminis- 
tration, which  was  exposed  to  some  sevei*e  storms  from  the 
unscrupulous  adversaries,  Sixtus  IV.  and  Ferdinand  of 
Naples,  whom  he  was  compelled  to  resist.  As  a  patriot,  in- 
deed, we  never  can  bestow  upon  Lorenzo  de'  Medici  the 
meed  of  disinterested  virtue.  He  completed  that  subversion 
of  the  Florentine  republic  which  his  two  immediate  ancestors 
had  so  well  prepared.  The  two  councils,  her  regular  legisla- 
ture, he  superseded  by  a  permanent  senate  of  seventy  per- 
sons ;  ^  while  the  gonfalonier  and  priors,  become  a  mockery 

1  Ammirato,   p.   145.    Machiavel  says  were  now  abolished,  yet  from   M.    Sis- 

(1.  viii.)  that  this  was  done  ristringere  il  mondi,  t.  xi.  p.  186,  who  quotes  an  author 

governo,  e  elie  ledeliberazioui  imporfcmti  I  liave   not  seen,  and  from  Nardi,  p.  7, 

si  ridueessero  in  uiinore  nunicro.     But  I  should  infer  that  they  still  formally 

though   it   rather  appears  from   Ammi-  subsisted. 
rato"s  expressions  that  the  two  councils 


Italy. 


PRETENSIONS  OF  FRANCE. 


481 


antl  pageant  to  keep  up  the  illusion  of  liherty,  were  taught 
that  in  exercising  a  legitimate  authority  without  the  sanetion 
of  their  prince,  a  name  now  tirst  heard  at  Florence,  they  in- 
curnil  the  risk  of  iiunisinneut  for  their  au<hicity.^  Even  the 
total  (lilapiilation  of  his  commercial  wealth  was  re[)aired  at  the 
cost  of  the  state ;  and  the  repuhlic  disgracefully  screened  the 
bankruptev  of  the  Medii-i  by  her  own.-  But  compareil  with 
the  statesmen  of  his  age,  we  can  reproach  Lorenzo  with 
no  heinous  crime.  He  had  many  enemies ;  his  descendants 
had  many  more ;  but  no  unequivoeal  charge  of  treachery  or 
assassination  has  been  sul)stantiated  against  his  memory.  By 
the  side  of  Galeazzo  or  Ludovico  .Stbrza,  of  Ferdinand  or 
his  son  Alfonso  of  Naples,  of  the  pope  Sixtus  IV.,  ^  ^  ^^^^ 
he  shines  with  uiispotli-d  lustre.  So  much  was 
Lorenzo  esteemed  by  his  coutem[K)raries,  that  his  [jremature 
death  has  frequently  been  considered  as  the  cause  of  those 
uidia|>pv  revoluticms  that  speedily  ensued,  and  which  his  fore- 
sight would,  it  was  imairined,  have  been  able  to  prevent ;  an 
opinion  which,  whether  founded  in  probability  or  otherwise, 
attests  the  common  sentiinent  about  his  character. 

If  indeed  Lorenzo  dt,-'  Medici  could  not  have  changed  the 
destinies  of  Italv.  however   i)remalure    his   death  „   , 
mav  appear  it  we  consider  the  orduiarv  duration  of  Knmce 
of  "human  existence,  it  must  be  admitted  that  for  "'**'"  ^'"p'^' 


1  Cnmlii.  a  ponfalonior  of  justice,  hml, 
in  concert  with  the  priDr.j,  iiJiiionished 
f>ouie  pulilic  officers  for  a  brea<-h  of  duty. 
Fu  tou'licafo  quer'to  iitto  iiiolto  superbo, 
wivH  .Kuuiiinitn,  che  soiiz;!  participazioue 
<li  Ix>ren»J  Je"  Me<lici.  princi[ie  Jel  )j;o- 
venio.  fo«.«e  doguito,  che  in  I'isa  in  quel 
t«ni|f«  ni  ritrovava.  p.  184.  Tlie  gonfa- 
lonier wn.-)  fineil  for  cx<-cutint:  his  con- 
ftitiitional  funrtionn.  Thi<  wan  n  down- 
right confeshion  that  the  repuhlic  wan  at 
■n  end:  and  all  it  pnivoke.s  M.  Sismondi 
to  Kiy  is  not  Uxt  inucii,  t.  xi.  p.  .345. 

J  Sinc<>  the  .Mi-dici  t<M.lc  on  them- 
«pIt«-ii  the  character  of  princes,  they  had 
for)(<>tt<fn  how  to  l>e  merchants.  But, 
Imprudently  enough,  they  had  not  ilis- 
continuol  their  connnerce,  which  was 
of  eiiurse  niisninnaxed  by  agents  whom 
they  did  not  overli«>k.  The  i-onsequence 
wa>  the  conipletit  illlnpidation  of  their 
TBjit  fortune.  The  public  revenues  had 
bivn  for  Mime  yiiip*  applieil  Ut  make  up 
its  defleieneies.  liut  from  the  measures 
•ilopti-d  by  the  republic,  if  we  nuty  still 
UDi*  tluit  name,  alie  ohoulilnpis'nr  t'lliavo 
coiislden-d  herw-lf.  nttlier  tiiaii  Uirenzo, 
M  the  debtor.  The  interest  of  the  public 
VUL.   I.  31 


debt  was  diminished  one  half.  Many 
charitable  foundations  were  suppres.sed. 
The  circulatinj;  s|H'cie  wxs  t.iken  at  one- 
fifth  below  its  noniiniil  value  in  payment 
of  taxes,  while  the  t;overnmeut  continued 
to  i.ssue  it  at  its  former  rate.  Thus  was 
Ixircnzo  reimbursed  a  part  of  his  loss  at 
the  expense  of  all  his  fellow-citizens.  Sis- 
mondi. t.  xi.  p.  347.  It  is  sli);htly  alluded 
to  by  Machiavel. 

Tlie  vast  expenditure  of  the  Medici  for 
the  sake  of  political  influence  would  of 
itself  have  alisorbed  all  their  profits. 
Cosmo  is  said  by  Ouicciardini  to  have 
g|«'nt4<'".f)'H)  ducats  in  building  churches, 
monasteries,  ami  other  public  works. 
1.  i.  p.  91.  The  expensi-s  of  the  family 
l>etween  H!it4  ami  1471,  in  buiJdintfs, 
charities,  and  taxes  alone,  amouuti-ii  to 
<Wi.'^^>  florins  :  ei|ual  in  valu<\  accordinii 
to  Sismondi,  to  ;j2,IKMt,lMKJ  francs  at  pres- 
ent. Hist,  dcs  Itipubl.  t.  X.  p.  173. 
They  set'ui  to  have  advanced  moneyH 
imprudently,  throutfh  their  agents,  to 
Kdward  IV.,  who  was  not  the  best  of 
debtors.  Oouiines,  .Mem.  de Charles  VIII. 
1.  vii.  c.  6. 


482         PRETENSIONS  OF  FRANCE  Chap.  III.  Part  U. 

his  own  welfiire,  perhaps  for  his  glory,  he  had  lived  out  the 
full  measure  of  his  time.  An  age  of  new  and  uncommon 
revolutions  was  about  to  arise,  among  the  earliest  of  which 
the  temporary  downfall  of  his  family  was  to  be  reckoned. 
The  long-contested  succession  of  Naples  was  again  to  involve 
Italy  in  war.  The  ambition  of  strangers  was  once  more  to 
desolate  her  plains.  Ferdinand  king  of  Naples  had  reigned 
for  thirty  years  after  the  discomfiture  of  his  competitor  with 
success  and  ability ;  but  with  a  degree  of  ill  faith  as  well  as 
tyranny  towards  his  subjects  that  rendered  his  goveniment 
deservedly  odious.  His  son  Alfonso,  whose  succession  seemed 
now  near  at  hand,  was  still  more  marked  by  these  vices  than 
himself.^  Meanwhile,  the  pretensions  of  the  house  of  Anjou 
had  legally  descended,  after  the  death  of  old  Regnier,  to 
Regnier  duke  of  Lorraine,  his  grandson  by  a  daughter ; 
whose  marriage  into  the  house  of  Lorraine  had,  however, 
so  displeased  her  father,  that  he  bequeathed  his  Neapolitan 
title,  along  with  his  real  patrimony,  the  county  of  Provence, 
to  a  count  of  Maine  ;  by  whose  testament  they  became  vested 
in  the  crown  of  France.  Louis  XL,  while  he  took  posses- 
sion of  Provence,  gave  himself  no  trouble  about  Naples. 
But  Charles  VIII.,  inheriting  his  father's  ambition  without 
that  cool  sagacity  which  restrained  it  in  general  from  im- 
practicable attempts,  and  far  better  circumstanced  at  home 
than  Louis  had  ever  been,  was  ripe  for  an  expedition  to 
vindicate  his  pretensions  upon  Naples,  or  even  for  more 
extensive  projects.  It  was  now  two  centuries  since  the 
kings  of  France  had  begun  to  aim,  by  intervals,  at  conquests 
in  Italy.  Philip  the  Fair  and  his  successors  Avere  anxious 
to  keep  up  a  connection  with  the  Guelf  party,  and  to  be 
considered  its  natural  heads,  as  tlie  German  emperors  were 
of  the  Ghibelins.  The  lonjj  Enijlish  wars  changed  all  views 
of  the  court  of  France  to  self-defence.  But  in  the  fifteenth 
century  its  plans  of  aggrandizement  beyond  the  Alps  began 
to  revive.  Several  times,  as  I  have  mentioned,  the  republic 
of  Genoa  put  itself  under  the  dominion  of  France.  The 
dukes  of  Savoy,  jiossessing  most  part  of  Piedmont,  and  mas- 
ters of  the  mountain-passes,  were,  by  birth,  intermarriage, 
and  habitual  policy,  completely  dedicated  to  the  French  in- 

1  Comines,  who  speaks  sufficiently  ill  cruel  que  lui,  ne  plus  mauvais,  ne  plus 
of  the  father,  sums  up  the  son's  character  vicieux  et  plus  infect,  ne  plus  gourmand 
very  concisely  :  Nul  homme  n'a  este  plus    que  lui.    1.  vii.  c.  13. 


Italy.  UPON   NAPLES.  483 

terests.^  In  the  former  wars  of  Fenlinaiid  against  the  house 
of  Anjou,  Pope  Puis  II.,  a  very  enlightened  statesman,  fore- 
saw the  danger  of  Italy  from  the  prevaiHng  influence  of 
France,  and  deprecated  the  introduction  of  her  armies.-  But 
at  that  time  tlie  central  i)arls  of  Lonihardv  were  held  liv  a 
man  ecjually  renowned  as  a  soldier  and  a  politician,  Francesco 
Sforza.  C"onsi-i(jus  that  a  claim  n[>on  his  own  dominions  sub- 
si-tfil  in  the  house  of  Orleans,  he  maintained  a  strict  alliance 
with  the  Aragonese  dynfisty  at  Naples,  as  having  a  common 
interest  against  France.  But  after  his  death  the  connection 
hetween  Milan  and  Naples  came  to  be  weakened.  In  the 
new  system  of  alliances  Milan  and  Florence,  sometimes  in- 
cluding Venice,  were  combined  against  Ferdinand  and  Sixtus 
IV..  an  unpriiici|iled  and  restless  pontitf.  Ludovico  Sfoiza, 
who  had  u-urped  the  guardian-hip  of  his  nephew  the  duke 
of  3Iilan.  found,  a-  that  young  man  advanced  to  maturity, 
that  one  crime  rciiuin-d  to  be  com])leted  l»v  another.  To 
depose  and  murder  his  ward  was,  however,  a  scheme  that 
prudence,  thougli  not  conscience,  bade  him  hesitiite  to  exe- 
cute, lie  iiad  rendered  Ferdinand  of  Naples  and  Piero  de' 
Medici.  Lorenzo's  heir,  his  decided  enemies.  A  revolution 
at  Milan  would  be  the  prol)able  result  of  his  continuing 
in  usurpation.  In  these  circumstances  Ludovico 
Sforza  exciteil  the  king  of  France  to  undertake 
the  conquest  of  Na[)les.'^ 

So  long  as  the  three  great  nations  of  Europe  were  unable 
to  put  forth  their  natural  stivnglh  through  internal  separation 
or  foreign  war,  the  Itidians  had  so  litth-  to  dr(;ad  for  their 
independence,  that  their  policy  was  altogether  directed  to 
regulating  the  domestic  balance  of  power  among  themselves. 

•  Deiiina,  Ptoria  dell'  TtAlin  Occidcn-  armis  ejioi,  neque  id  Ituliac  libcrtati  con- 
tale,  t.  ii.  im.«siiii.  Loiiw  XI.  tn-ated  durere  :  (iallfis,  si  rcirnmii  obfiimissent, 
Savoy  8JI  a  flef  of  Kniiiie  :  iiiterfi-riiit;  in  Semis  hand  iliiliii'-suhactiiros;  Kloicntiiios 
all  itx  nftiint.  and  even  taking;  oil  liiiiiMi'ir  advirsus  lili.i  nihil  iietunis  ;  llursiunx 
the  ntjenryaner  tliedeatliof  I'liililxTt  I.,  .Miitinie  duieni  (Jallis  (riillioreni  videri  ; 
under  pretence  of  prevenliuK  disorders.  Flaininla-  re(.'nloH  ad  Fniiicos  inclinare; 
p.  IV).  The  niar<|iiiK  of  .Saliizzo,  who  <i<'iiuani  Fnincis  siihe.sse,  et  eivitateni 
pO)o>e«j<«-<l  roni-'idoniljle  ferritorieii  in  the  Astenseui  :  si  pontifex  Konianns  ali- 
iviuth  of  I'iolniont,  had  iloni-  'lomajfe  to  ijiiaiido  Fraiicoruiii  amicus  assiniiatiir, 
France  ever  since  l;{,",.3  (p.  4'i;.  thon(;h  nihil  reli<(iii  in  Itall.i  rcnianere  (jiiod  non 
to  the  injury  of  his  n-al  su|K-rior.  the  tniiis<^>a(  in  (iallnruni  nonien  ;  tueri  so 
duke  of  .Ha Toy.  This  (.mve  Fnince  an'>tlier  Ilaliani,  dutn  KiTilinaiiduni  tneretnr. 
pretext  for  interference  In  Italy,     p.  187.     Con ntar.      I'ii    Scciindi,    1.    iv.    p.   W. 

'Cosmo   de'   .Medici.    In*  a    conference  Spomlanais,  who  led  me  to  this  passuKi-, 

with    I'iii"    II     at    Klon-nce,   havlni;   ex-  is  very  an).'ry  ;  hut  the  year  14'.*4  proved 

pf'                               '•  that  the  iiojie  should  Plus  It.  to  hi-  a  wary  statesnnin. 

»"                               I:    I'onllfex    hau'l   fe-  •' (iuicciardini,  1.  i. 
niei.iiii  i.ii  -.■  •■ic.iep'niaseronstitututn, 


484  CLAIMS   ON  NAPLES.      Chap.  III.  Part  n. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  fifteenth  centnry  a  more  enlarged 
view  of  Europe  would  have  manifested  the  necessity  of 
reconciling  petty  animosities,  and  sacrificing  petty  ambition, 
in  order  to  preserve  the  nationality  of  their  governments; 
not  by  attempting  to  melt  down  Lombards  and  Neapolitans, 
principalities  and  republics,  into  a  single  monarchy,  but  by 
the  more  just  and  rational  scheme  of  a  common  federation. 
The  j)oliticians  of  Italy  were  abundantly  competent,  as  far  as 
cool  and  clear  understandings  could  render  them,  to  perceive 
the  interests  of  their  country.  But  it  is  the  will  of  Provi- 
dence that  the  highest  and  surest  wisdom,  even  in  matters 
of  policy,  should  never  be  unconnected  with  virtue.  In  re- 
lieving himself  from  an  immediate  danger,  Ludovico  Sforza 
overlooked  the  consideration  that  the  presumptive  heir  of 
the  king  of  France  claimed  by  an  ancient  title  that  princi- 
pality of  Milan  which  he  was  compassing  by  usurpation  and 
murder.  But  neither  Milan  nor  Naples  was  free  from  other 
claimants  than  France,  nor  was  she  reserved  to  enjoy  unmo- 
lested the  spoil  of  Italy.  A  louder  and  a  louder  strain  of 
warhke  dissonance  will  be  heard  from  the  banks  of  the 
Danube,  and  from  the  Mediterranean  gulf.  The  dark  and 
wily  Ferdinand,  the  rash  and  lively  Maximilian,  are  pre- 
paring to  hasten  into  the  lists ;  the  schemes  of  ambition  are 
assuming  a  more  comprehensive  aspect ;  and  the  controversy 
of  Neapolitan  succession  is  to  expand  into  the  long  rivalry 
between  the  houses  of  France  and  Austria.  But  here,  while 
Italy  is  still  untouched,  and  before  as  yet  the  first  lances  of 
France  gleam  along  the  defiles  of  the  Alps,  we  close  the 
history  of  the  Middle  Ages. 


END    OF    THE    FIRST    VOLUME. 


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